TEENAGER RECALLS ‘ DRAG RACE’ HORROR

 

Spring Queen contestant tells of ‘last words and hugs’ before M5 tragedy

IT WAS MEANT to be a night of celebration for Rushaan Nero when she made it into the top 20 of the Spring Queen competition, but hours later the teenager lost her grandmother and aunt in a gruesome accident.

PICTURES: CINDY WAXAIN PAIN Four people died and others were injured when a minibus overturned on the M5 on Sunday. From left: Thelma Sias, 54, Caitlin Mattys, 7, Mercia Mattys, 40, and Nicole Nero, 23

The Nero family of Parkwood were left reeling after the tragedy in the early hours of Sunday.

They were returning from the competition when, police allege, two dicing drivers caused the crash on the M5, just before the Kenilworth off-ramp.

Four people died and 12 others were injured. Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Traut said they were still investigating.

Witnesses said a Mercedes-Benz and a Volvo were dicing on the M5 and it appeared they had forced the taxi off the road.

Rushaan, 18, who works for Medac in Diep River, was still wearing the sparkly red dress she wore during the pageant and was excited after being named one of the top 20 finalists.

The family had hired the taxi to go to watch her on stage.

Rushaan’s grandmother Christine Nero, 76, pictured top right, her aunt Diane Marais, 52, bottom right, a cousin’s wife, Annalise Louw, 50, and Louw’s daughter’s boyfriend, Vincent Johnson, 20, were killed instantly.

Marais and the Neros lived in Parkwood and Louw and Johnson in Eersterivier.

With tears welling, Nero said her grandmother and aunt had hugged and congratulated her and Marais had promised to make her a dress for next year’s competition.

“Those were the last words, the last hugs,” she said.

“I saw sparks coming from the wheel and the driver lost control.”

Most of the taxi passengers were flung from the vehicle and Christine landed on the grass next to her granddaughter. Johnson fell on top of Rushaan Nero. They were both dead. Johnson’s girlfriend, Lee-Talia Louw, has a two-month-old baby.

Co-driver Keagan Stewart, 26, was sitting in front of the taxi when he felt it being knocked.

The driver lost control and the taxi rolled, knocking out the windscreen. Stewart jumped out and landed in a ditch before the taxi rolled again. His right collarbone was broken. Stewart said the taxi he had been driving had broken down on the way back from taking the family to the Good Hope Centre. He had arranged for another taxi to collect them and he had acted as co-driver.

“I feel so bad,” he said yesterday. “It is not a nice feeling; I know the family well,” he said.

Rushaan’s mother, Brenda, who was also in the taxi, said they were still coming to terms with the deaths.

“My mother was a wonderful woman and helped wherever she could, my sister was the best sister in the world,” she said. She said she was particularly heartsore for Lee-Talia Louw, who had given birth two months ago.

“She lost her mother and her boyfriend.”

Yesterday most of the family congregated at Christine’s Parkwood home, many wearing bandages, their arms in slings, their faces swollen and scratched.

DRAG RACERS ON M5 LINKED TO CRASH

Four people killed after minibus taxi overturns, police probing dicers’ role

POLICE are investigating the role two drag racers played in the death of four people on the M5 early yesterday.

PICTURE: NIZAAR MARLIEWRECKED Rescue personnel attend to injured people on the M5 in an incident in which four people died

A taxi taking people home from the annual Spring Queen event at the Good Hope Centre, overturned and landed in a ditch. Three women – aged 79, 52 and 50 – and a 29-year-old man died on the scene.

Eleven people, including the driver, were seriously injured.

The three women were a mother and two daughters, all from Parkwood. The police have not released their names.

Traffic Services spokeswoman Maxine Jordan said there were 20 people in the taxi.

The M5 was closed while authorities dealt with the crash. It was reopened just before 3am.

Police spokesman LieutenantColonel André Traut said they had reason to believe the incident was caused by two cars witnesses said were drag racing at the time.

Law enforcement agencies were studying camera footage and Traut said they would do everything in their power to apprehend the culprits.

The SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu), which organises the Spring Queen event, has called on the police to arrest those responsible.

A man who was driving a few hundred metres behind the taxi said two cars came “screaming and weaving through the traffic”.

The man, who did not want to be named, said the two cars were clearly racing: “They were weaving through the traffic at a high speed. When I stopped at the accident, one of the dicing cars had stopped, but then drove off.”

Posting on a traffic site on Facebook, Nurjehan Perin said she and her boyfriend were on the M5 and saw the two cars, a silver Mercedes-Benz and a black and silver Volvo.

She said they pulled off the road, and the two speedsters raced on.

Speaking to the Cape Argus yesterday, Perin said it had been an extremely traumatic experience. She had seen the two cars in the rear-view mirror. She said they were speeding and moving from lane to lane.

The speeding cars passed the car she was in. The taxi, which was ahead of them, was not speeding, she said. As they were approaching a bend she saw the taxi overturn. People were flung from the vehicle.

Her boyfriend, Charl Krieger, a fireman, pulled over, called emergency services and helped as best he could, she said. Other motorists also stopped to help.

The incident happened just after 1am near the Kenilworth exit. It appeared that the driver lost control of the taxi and it overturned, landing in a ditch.

Traut said police had opened a culpable homicide investigation: “We have reason to believe that it was caused by two motor vehicles which were driving at excessively high speeds, and were possibly dicing at the time. No one has been arrested as yet.”

Nazmia Leite, a spokeswoman for Sactwu, said they were saddened by the loss of life: “We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased, wish the injured a speedy recovery and call for the dicers to be brought to justice as speedily as possible.”

Alida Jones of the Drive More Safely organisation said more than 55 people were killed on South African roads every day. Yesterday was World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, Jones said.

The Hulk

THE HIGHWAY Ghost Squad has recorded just under 2 000 offences on the city’s major roads in just five weeks.

PICTURE: THOMAS HOLDERMONSTER TRUCK The new traffic police control station, the Hulk, as well as the Ghost Squad unit made their debut at a roadblock on the M5 yesterday

It started operating in October and has already issued 1 972 fines on roads including the N2, N1, R300 and M5.

In just one week last month, more than 700 offences were recorded.

Focus areas of the new unit will include the R300 between the N1 and Vanguard Drive and the M5 between the N1’s Koeberg Interchange and Sunrise Circle.

The M3 between Jutland Avenue and Steenberg Road will be another focus area, as well as the N2 from Sir Lowry’s Pass to Hospital Bend, including Nelson Mandela Boulevard.

The city yesterday officially launched the Highway Ghost Squad as well as the traffic service’s new 26-wheel vehicle, the “Hulk”.

JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security, said there had been an increase in the number of motorists on the roads. In turn there were more traffic offences.

Maxine Jordaan, head of the Highway Ghost Squad, said motorists driving in the N2’s bus lane and failing to wear seatbelts were some of the biggest problems on highways.

She said people driving over the barrier lines was another common offence.

There were 477 bus lane offences, 254 fines for people not wearing seatbelts, and 229 motorists were caught without driving licences.

Smith said officers found around 30 000 unlicenced drivers on city roads every month.

At yesterday’s launch along the M5, motorists were pulled over so that officers could check driving licences and whether vehicles were roadworthy. Several drivers with outstanding warrants were also nabbed.

One of these, an Athlone man, was arrested. He had five arrest warrants worth over R4 000 to his name.

The new “Hulk” vehicle will soon be processing cases like this. It is fitted with computer systems which link to the eNaTIS database. This means it will be able to check the validity of driving licences and process warrants.

Smith said there would also be a nurse on board for blood tests in drunk-driving cases. It was donated to the city and will be used at roadblocks and in special operations.

KEEPING OUR ROADS CYCLIST-FRIENDLY

• Bronwynne Jooste  METRO WRITER  bronwynne.jooste@inl.co.za

Local government determined to make travel in city accessible to non-motorists ROAD rules for Cape Town cyclists – such as travelling in single file, wearing helmets and stopping at red traffic signals – are seen as restrictive to getting more people on their bikes.

PICTURE: DAVID RITCHIE   MAKING WAY A  track for joggers, cyclists, prams, wheelchairs, etc, is being built along the perimeter of Rondebosch Common

These are some of the patterns from other countries that have large numbers of cyclists, and was some of the information heard at a presentation on cycling safety yesterday.

Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport, roads and stormwater, Transport and Public Works MEC Robin Carlisle Finance, Tourism and Economic Development MEC Alan Winde were some of the speakers.

Sport and Recreation MEC Ivan Meyer also spoke at the event and urged Herron to draft five cycling measures which Meyer would include in his next budget allocation.

This year the city will spend R124 million on non-motorised transport. One of the city’s priorities is linking non-motorised transport routes to public transport.

A key theme was getting more cyclists on the road and changing the attitudes of both cyclists and motorists.

Gail Jennings, a non-motorised transport consultant, spoke on the findings of research commissioned by the national Department of Environmental Affairs. She said increasing number of cyclists on the road was linked to a direct improvement in safety for cyclists.

In countries with many cyclists, helmets were not mandatory. And only “anecdotal” evidence showed that helmets saved lives. According to the research, cyclists stopping at red traffic signals, yield signs and stop signs were also not necessary.

Jennings said it was shown that neither motorists nor cyclists benefited from this practice.

“Everyone knows that you [as a cyclist] will not go over a red light if it’s dangerous.”

Carlisle, however, said the cyclists were “by and large the most undisciplined road users”.

He added that his department’s move to ensure that motorists must be 1.5m away from a cyclist to pass them would add to the “edge” between motorists and cyclists.

“This rule is part of the process of people learning to respect each other,” said Carlisle.

The relationship between the two groups of road users was critical to more people using bikes to travel.

Herron said part of the city’s cycle safety plan would include more signage to alert motorist to areas with high volumes of cyclists.

The city would also start identifying “black spots” where there were high accident rates. He said the city was conducting surveys to measure areas with the highest number of cyclists as well as their peak travelling times.

The provincial government backed the push for cycling. Meyer suggested incentives such as free parking for cyclists and more expensive parking for motorists. Winde added that the CTICC’s planned extension would have 180 bays for cyclists.

Andrew Wheeldon, from the Bicycle Empowerment Network , said he had spoken with cyclists on their biggest problem areas. This included Boyes Drive, Ou Kaapseweg, Constantia Nek and De Waal Drive.

He said cyclists allowed more people access to mobility, adding that the “most powerful incentive” to increase cyclist numbers was to make the roads safer.

City Traffic Officers arrest 79 suspects, recover a stolen motorcycle and issue over 2 000 traffic fines

 

City of Cape Town Traffic Officers arrested 79 suspects, recovered a stolen motorcycle and issued over 2 000 traffic fines in city-wide operations this past week.

On Monday morning, 12 November 2012, City Traffic Services Ghost Squad Unit conducted an operation focusing on serious moving violations along Wetton Road in Wynberg. The officers arrested one minibus taxi driver for drunk driving who had 10 outstanding warrants of arrest amounting to R8 750,00 after he failed to stop when indicated to do so.

In addition, officers issued 56 traffic fines.

Roadblocks were also conducted at the following locations over the weekend, resulting in the following arrests:

Sunday 11 November 2012:

• Lansdowne Road, Khayelitsha: 30 drunk drivers (with the highest breathalyser test registering at 1,25mg of alcohol per 1 000ml of breath); and one suspect was arrested for escaping from custody. In addition officers issued 120 traffic-related fines

Friday 9 November 2012:

• Spine Road, Khayelitsha: 28 drunk drivers (with the highest breathalyser test registering at 1,42mg of alcohol per 1 000ml of breath ). In addition officers issued 28 traffic-related fines.
• Bosmansdam Road, Bothasig: 17 drunk drivers (with the highest breathalyser test registering at 1,37mg of alcohol per 1 000ml of breath).

Later that evening, officers arrested two motorists for excessive speeding and drunk driving on Plattekloof Road. One suspect was caught driving at 154km/h in a 70km/h zone. Officers gave chase and apprehended the suspect at Plattekloof and the N1. The driver was tested for drunken driving and recorded a breathalyser reading of 0,94mg of alcohol per 1 000ml of breath. The other suspect was caught driving at 131km/h in a 70km/h zone. In addition, officers issued 37 traffic-related fines.

The following speeding offences were recorded:

• 114 offences on Plattekloof Road, between Gert Van Rooyen and Bosmansdam Extension (highest speed was 154km/h)
• 51 offences on Bosmansdam Avenue, between Wieland and Giel Basson Drive (highest speed was 118km/h)

During the late afternoon peak on Thursday 8 November 2012 , officers conducted an operation along Hospital Bend as part of their ongoing enforcement plan. The operation focused on serious moving violations such as disregarding the channelising lines, overtaking on the left shoulder, and using a cellphone whilst driving.

Officers issued 1 290 traffic fines, including:

• 18 cellphones were impounded
• 274 for disobeying the channelising lines
• 28 for failure to wear safety belts
• 27 for unlicensed drivers
• 20 for unlicensed motor vehicles
• 175 speeding offences on Nelson Mandela Boulevard, between Roodebloem and Melbourne Road
• 552 speeding offences on Settlers Way, between Raapenberg and Jan Smuts
• 133 speeding offences on Table Bay Boulevard, between Lower Church and Christiaan Barnard (highest speed was 133km/h)

Later that evening, officers patrolled Prince George Drive in Grassy Park – a well-known illegal drag-racing hotspot – from 20:00 to midnight. They intercepted would-be drag-racers before they could race and suspended four vehicles for mechanical defects. In addition, officers issued 83 other traffic-related fines for unlicensed drivers, unlicensed motor vehicles and vehicle defects.

The following speeding offences were recorded:

• 101 offences on Racecourse Road, between Chukker and Lansdowne Road (highest speed was 121km/h)
• 87 offences on Vanguard Drive, between Turfhall and Klipfontein Road
• 72 offences on Jan Smuts Drive, between Lawson and Kromboom Road (highest speed was 114km/h)

Also on Thursday 8 November 2012, during a roadblock along Sir Lowry Road in Cape Town, officers were alerted by a member of the public to a suspicious person pushing a motorcycle under the bridge at the corner of Rudger and Strand Street. Upon investigation, officers found an unattended red Suzuki TL 1 000cc motorcycle and the ignition appeared to have been tampered with. After checking the E-Natis system, the motorcycle was reported as being stolen earlier that day at the Good Hope Centre in Sir Lowry Road. The matter was then handed over to the South African Police Services in Cape Town who contacted and informed the owner of the recovery of the motorcycle.

'Traffic boss comes to work drunk'

 

NOV 13, 2012 | BOITUMELO TSHEHLE, NORTH WEST CORRESPONDENT |

'These people are being nasty because I am Ndebele and a woman'

CAUGHT OUT: Bapong traffic station boss Monica Madiba is seen wearing slippers with her uniform during office hours.

She says she wears morning slippers with her uniform because her office does not have a heater

EMPLOYEES at Bapong weighbridge traffic station in North West claim their station commander comes to work drunk and not in full uniform.

She has since been transferred to another station.

Monica Madiba is also accused of giving her boyfriend and colleague, James Mnguni, special treatment.

Angry employees who did not want their names disclosed for fear of reprisals said they were demoralised and tired of their boss's behaviour.

They say she is a bully and threatens to fire them every time they raise their concerns. The employees say they have since called on MEC for human settlements and public safety Nono Maloyi to intervene.

Madiba is also accused of claiming travel allowances while using her lover's car.

Workers claim her boyfriend uses a government car without authorisation, and that most of the time he uses it for private errands. They say even if he comes late to work - most of the time drunk - he is not subjected to disciplinary action.

But Madiba says the complainants are targeting her because she is not a Setswana-speaking person and that she is a woman. She says the employees call her lenyasa (a person who is very dark in complexion).

Madiba says she is a workaholic, and puts her work first - but that her staff members do not like that.

She disputes that she and her boyfriend come to work drunk. "I would never do that, and my boyfriend does not even drink alcohol, these people are being nasty because I am Ndebele and I come from Johannesburg.

"They told me that this is a Tswana province and that they want to be managed by a Motswana," she said.

She says she wears morning slippers with her uniform because her office does not have an air conditioner or heater.

"It's very cold in winter. One day I had to run and stop a traffic officer who wanted to drive away with a state vehicle without my authorisation, so they took pictures of me wearing slippers with my uniform."

Madiba says one of the complaining subordinates owns a fleet of taxis and got angry when she told him that it was a conflict of interest.

She says she raised the issue with the North West department of public safety and the labour department, but nothing has been done.

Madiba said she has been treated several times for depression because of the treatment she gets from her staff members. She said they wanted one of the employees, Pule Moeketsi, to be their station commander.

She says Moeketsi scored higher than her in 2008 when they were contesting for her position. "He had a higher score than me, but a female person was required for the post and I got the position because I was second best."

Spokesman at the department of public safety Simon Mmope said: "The MEC has already finalised the matter and we hope that we will reach an amicable solution."

Madiba said late yesterday that she has been told to report at the Brits station.

"I got a letter that says I am being transferred."

Smashes mostly happen on weekday afternoons

 

THE MAJORITY of the collisions on Cape Town’s roads happen on weekday afternoons and private motorists are the biggest culprits.

City traffic services yesterday provided an analysis of the five high-incident locations. These are Rosmead Avenue and Wetton Road in Wynberg; the R300 and Stock Road in Philippi; Stellenbosch Arterial and Belhar Drive in Belhar; the R300 and Stellenbosch Arterial in Delft and the N7 and Potsdam Road in Dunoon.

In the 2011/12 financial year, there were more than 600 crashes at these spots. Between May and July there were 243 collisions there.

Andre Nel, the deputy chief of traffic services, tabled the information before the city’s safety and security portfolio committee.

Nel said traffic services had increased enforcement and officer visibility in some areas and officers had made recommendations on possible engineering changes. The figures are based on road incident reports from local police stations.

In Wynberg, most of the collisions took place on Mondays and Thursdays. The peak time was between 12pm and 6pm.

“This could be because there are a rush of people moving towards this intersection at that time.”

To help alleviate the problem, trees blocking motorists’ views at the intersection had been cut back.

The situation was similar in Philippi, where incidents were more likely to happen on Mondays and Tuesdays. Most took place from 6am to 8.30am.

Motorists side-swiping or rear-ending one another were the most common types of smashes.

Mondays were also the most dangerous days in Belhar, with the most incidents taking place between 8.30am and 4.30pm.

In response to the collision rate at Stellenbosch Arterial and Belhar Drive, a speed camera was installed.

At the Delft intersection, the bulk of the incidents took place on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Nel said officers had also noted a increase in the number of arrests for driving under the influence on Sundays.

In Du Noon, Mondays were the most problematic days. Incidents peaked between 8.30am and 4.30pm.

Nel said the analysis “dispelled the myth” that taxis were involved in the most crashes: “Minibus taxis are not the worst culprits; sedans are the most problematic vehicles on the road.”

Incredible Hulk on patrol

CAPE Town traffic services plans to officially launch its multi-million rand “Hulk” vehicle, a mobile command centre which will operate across the city, in the next two weeks.

PICTURES: THOMAS HOLDERHI-TECH Senior traffic officer Philip Weber inside the 32-wheel Hulk, a new, state-of-the-art, mobile command centre

The truck, which was donated to the city by a technological firm and was previously used by the city’s IT department, is expected to start operating in time for the festive season.

The R3-million 32-wheeler truck will process warrants and be linked to the e-Natis system.

JP Smith, the mayoral committee member for safety and security, said the vehicle would essentially be a mobile traffic centre.

Officers would be able to breathalyse motorists and check whether drivers’ licences were valid. Smith said “the Hulk” would move around to traffic hotspots and to areas where there were high volumes of traffic on certain days, like the beach on summery days.

“Management will also be able to go along and be conscious of the problems,” Smith said.

Apart from enforcement, people would also be able to write learners’ licence tests in the vehicle.

Smith said this would be ideal for areas where there were no testing centres or where existing centres were dealing with heavy caseloads.

He explained that if a traffic centre were to go offline for any reason, “the Hulk” would be able to move and offer all the requisite services to motorists.

He added the vehicle was still in its “developmental phase” but said that it would soon be able to offer more services, for instance, the city’s hi-tech spy-cars would be able to link up with the truck, augmenting the ability for number-plate recognition.

This was just one of the measures traffic services planned to implement on Cape Town’s roads this festive season.

Also due to come into action was the Ghost Squad’s Highway Unit, which would patrol the busy N2 and R300 freeways. It would be headed by city traffic inspector and spokeswoman, Maxine Jordaan.

In addition to the hi-tech cars the Ghost Squad currently uses, Smith said a range of “superbikes” would make up this unit.

CITY SILENT ON MAYOR’S SPOUSE

 

De Lille yet to answer questions on husband’s driving charges

‘THE LAW MUST TAKE ITS COURSE… WE MUST RESPECT THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE COURTS’

QUESTIONS have arisen about Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille’s personal role in official reports on the arrest of a motorist, her husband – despite a strong possible conflict of interest.

PICTURE: JASON BOUDHOT WATER Patricia de Lille’s husband has been arrested for reckless and negligent driving

Her husband, Edwin, was arrested on Friday for reckless and negligent driving.

Soon after his arrest in Pinelands, De Lille told the Weekend Argus her husband had had a stroke.

It is understood that this served as an explanation as to why he may have been driving in a manner which led to his arrest.

More significantly, since the arrest, city officials have refused to comment. The Cape Argus yesterday submitted formal questions to Kylie Hatton, the city’s manager of media in the new Integrated Strategic Communication and Branding Department; to Paul Boughey, head of the office of the mayor; and to Solly Malatsi, De Lille’s official spokesman.

The following questions were asked:

What led to the arrest of the mayor’s husband?

What action has the city taken against the motorist?

Will the city’s actions be free of any actual or perceived interference or pressure on officials involved?

Is the city happy that due process has been followed, strictly “by the book”, thus far?

Will the city’s electronic surveillance resources be utilised in prosecuting the motorist (ie, the city’s freeway camera system)?

In response, Hatton referred the questions to Malatsi, who quoted De Lille in reply. She refused to answer the questions, instead saying: “I thank the police for stopping him under that health condition and the law must take its course. All evidence about his health condition will be put before the court and we must respect the independence of the courts.”

Not only did De Lille refuse to answer the questions formally submitted by the Cape Argus, but she refused to explain why the city’s administration had either refused or been ordered not to answer the questions, as is routine.

Normally, on matters pertaining to roads, direct comment is made either by mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith or the executive director of safety and security Richard Bosman.

A personal comment from the mayor regarding a traffic violation – in this case involving her own spouse – is unprecedented.

De Lille and the city’s administration were also requested to give an assurance to the public that the matter would be dealt with without fear or favour.

This question was asked because while it will now be for the police to investigate and the courts to adjudicate, it will still be City of Cape Town employees who will carry the burden of testifying, or submitting evidence based on what they witnessed leading up to the arrest.

But there was no response to this request from the city or De Lille.

A source in Cape Town with intimate knowledge of the workings of the city’s administration said De Lille’s actions were “outrageous” for at least four reasons. First, because it was highly irregular for the mayor to comment on traffic violations, as opposed to the usual city officials or the politician who heads that department.

Second, that it was “discourteous and plain wrong” for the mayor, having taken on the communications on the matter herself, to refuse to answer the Cape Argus’s questions.

Third, that it was deeply inappropriate for De Lille to be answering questions pertaining to charges against her own husband.

And fourth, that it was disingenuous for De Lille to claim that it was in the hands of the courts when she would know full well that any case would rely heavily on the co-operation of city officers.

The source said: “This is ‘spin city’ gone mad. It’s outrageous.”

The “spin city” allegation pertains to recent moves within the administration to put communications in the hands of politicians instead of politically neutral officials, as reported in the Cape Argus earlier this year.

111 ROAD SMASHES IN JUST 10 MONTHS

THERE were at least 111 crashes on Ou Kaapseweg in the 10-month period between mid-December and the middle of this month – and these figures do not include that of a cyclist seriously injured in a hit-and-run incident this week.

PICTURES: DAVID RITCHIETOLL TAKEN A cross marks the spot where a person had died in a fatal accident near the top of Ou Kaapseweg

The statistics were provided by the City of Cape Town in response to a request by the Cape Argus, and come as residents and ratepayers are demanding answers on why measures recommended over the past decade to reduce major traffic snarl-ups and many crashes on the now severelycongested drive have been ignored – a charge disputed by the city.

Traffic congestion on Ou Kaapseweg has increased significantly in recent years, and become particularly acute in the past two months, because of the rehabilitation of Main Road between Muizenberg and Clovelly.

The city’s statistics reveal that there were no fatalities but two serious injuries in the 111 recorded incidents, and that nine people were slightly injured.

In a single black five-day period at the end of September/beginning of October, there were nine incidents – including three on one of those five days.

The most recent fatalities on Ou Kaapseweg occurred in June last year when two people died in a crash, and in November two bikers were severely injured in a head-on collision with a truck.

While most of the incidents reported in the city’s statistics involved ordinary cars, other vehicles included light delivery vans (one incident involved three of these vehicles), panel vans, a heavy vehicle weighing more than 3.5 tons, minibuses and an articulated truck, while pedestrians, a motorcyclist, a cyclist and “fixed objects” were also cited.

The incidents occurred both on Ou Kaapseweg itself and at the intersections with Steenberg Road, Silvermine Road, The Bend, Kommetjie Road, “Four ways” (Kommetjie Road), Buller Louw Drive, Noordhoek Road, Westlake Drive and Frigate Road.

A group of seven civic organisations from the “Far South” of the Peninsula, the body corporate of the Steenberg office park and the Home Owners’ Association of the adjoining Silvertree Estate at the northern end of Ou Kaapseweg, are now collectively tackling the city about problems on the drive.

They are pointing to remedial and safety measures proposed in three separate reports between 2002 and 2009 that include eight passing lanes – three in the south-bound and five in the north-bound lanes on Ou Kaapseweg – as well as an arrester bed at its intersection with Steenberg Road at its northern end, and several improvements at the intersection with Silvermine Road where there were 50 incidents in a six-year period between 2003 and 2008.

In one of their two legal letters requesting an urgent meeting to discuss the problems and possible shortterm improvements to the route, the city stands accused of doing “precisely nothing” to resolve the problems, but this is denied by Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport, roads and stormwater.

By yesterday, the civics and the two associations had still not managed to secure a date with the city.

According to the minutes of a community meeting in Fish Hoek last year to discuss speed control on Kommetjie Road, principal traffic inspector for the South Peninsula Mark Harding revealed that there were just 12 traffic officers for the entire area from Grassy Park and Retreat southwards – six per shift.

Asked by Janet Holwill, chairwoman of the Fish Hoek Valley Residents’ and Ratepayer’ Association, what the key factor was to stop fatalities, he replied “visible law enforcement actions”, the minutes state.