Nzimande urges caution at rail crossings after Buttskop tragedy

Nzimande urges caution at rail crossings after Buttskop tragedy

2018-04-29

Jenni Evans

Seven people have been killed in a crash at the Butttskop level crossing in Blackheath. (Supplied by Kenny Africa)

Transport Minister Blade Nzimande urged extreme caution at railway crossings after seven people were killed when a Metrorail train slammed into a bakkie at Buttskop level crossing in the Western Cape on Friday.

"Road users are called upon to be circumspect when using our roads or crossing the railway, as human [error] account[s] for the majority of the crashes we have in South Africa," Nzimande said on Saturday.

READ: 7 killed after train, vehicle collide at level crossing

In a statement expressing condolences to the families and friends of the seven people who were killed, Nzimande said that according to preliminary investigations, a bakkie and a taxi were driving on Frederick Road, parallel to the railway track approaching the crossing on Friday.

"As the train was approaching the crossing, the taxi drove across and the bakkie followed the taxi, but was unfortunately hit by the train," said Nzimande.

The collision took place at the Buttskop Level Crossing, east of Cape Town, which is protected by boom gates and flashing lights, at 05:46 on Friday.

READ: Railway watchdog probes deadly Cape Town level crossing crash

He called on the Railway Safety Regulator to continue with railway safety information sharing, and the enforcement of railroad rules.

^{Seven people have been killed in a crash at the Butttskop level crossing in Blackheath. (Supplied by Kenny Africa)}

New twist in eNatis court case

CRIME & COURTS / 18 Jun '16,

ANA Reporter

Pretoria – Tasima (Pty) Ltd, the company which operates South Africa’s eNatis vehicle management system, has convinced the High Court in Pretoria that the transport department was in contempt for failing to pay a portion of money owed from a long-standing contract.

However, it is this same contract, with a total value of R1.8 billion and awarded in October 2010, that the department is currently asking the Constitutional Court to declare invalid.

File photo. Credit: INDEPENDENT MEDIA

Simultaneously, Tasima is being charged, alongside former transport minister Sbu Ndebele and eight other accused, for fraud, corruption, racketeering, and bribery related to the same contract.

Since being charged, Ndebele has been recalled as South Africa’s high commissioner to Australia.

This week, High Court in Pretoria Judge Neil Tuchten found the department and director general Pule Selepe were in breach of an order to pay Tasima R104 million, which the department had been ordered to do by the same court on May 6, by Judge J Basson, by no later than May 25.

After the department failed to pay, Tasima on May 31 brought an application before Tuchten to find the department and Selepe in “breach and wilful contempt” of Basson’s order and asking for imprisonment and costs to be awarded. On June 6, under pressure by Tasima and the pending court action, the department made payment.

“[Selepe] acted wilfully and mala fide [in bad faith with intent to deceive] [by failing to pay on time],” said Tuchten.

While imprisonment was no longer sought as payment had been made, a cost order had to be made. “I regret that this will give rise merely to an additional disbursement from the public purse,” said Tuchten.

Tasima developed and operated the electronic national administration traffic information system (eNatis) – the official register for all vehicle, driving licence, traffic contraventions, and accident data – from 2002 to 2007.

It then operated on a month-to-month basis until October 2010 when a new, now disputed, five-year contract was signed by then director general George Mahlalela.

In June 2015, on the back of an investigation into the new contract launched in 2014 by the Special Investigating Unit, the department successfully convinced the Pretoria High Court that the contract was invalid, but Tasima had this overturned on appeal. The Constitutional Court matter has yet to be finalised.

The criminal investigation, expected to continue next month, has already uncovered an alleged mountain of corruption, including hotel stays, air-tickets, Fifa world cup 2010 tickets, dodgy lease agreements, and in excess of R10 million allegedly paid to Ndebele by a private company linked to Sibusiso Ncube, who was also a middle-man in the re-awarding of the eNatis contract.

Ncube, a long-time ally of President Jacob Zuma, is married to KwaZulu-Natal local government MEC and African National Congress provincial treasurer Nomusa Dube-Ncube.

African News Agency

System snarls drunk-driving campaigns

INDUSTRY NEWS / 25 Feb '13,

Colleen Dardagan

Dedicated policing and massive public awareness campaigns to stop drunk driving are all for naught after it has emerged that most of those arrested are escaping prosecution because of administrative snarl-ups and blood test backlogs.

The festive season blitz, which saw 2800 people arrested for drunk driving, might as well never have happened as blood samples are not being processed timeously, making prosecutions unlikely.

File photo: Hannes Thiart. Credit: Ex-QDMS

This is despite statistics showing that alcohol accounts for 65 percent of road accidents.

KwaZulu-Natal Transport Department spokesman Kwanele Ncalane said transport officials were very concerned.

“There has been a meeting with the national justice cluster to make drunk-driving cases a priority in the courts,” he said.

Llewellyn Curlewis, from the Law Society of South Africa, said lab reports on blood samples could take up to six months before they were completed.

CASES DISCHARGED

“The person arrested will usually appear in court within 48 hours, when their case is then postponed for six months to give the police time to get the lab results. But by the time they have managed to secure the results, the case has been discharged,” he said.

Last week, staff at the national health department’s pathology lab, where blood samples are sent for testing, confirmed that many of the festive season samples had not been processed.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) refused to release statistics of how many of the 12 867 drivers arrested in KZN for drunk driving between April 2011 and March 2012 were ever convicted.

These statistics, they claim, were only for “official purposes”.

The Justice Department also declined to respond to how many of the cases heard in the province’s courts last year resulted in convictions, referring queries to the NPA.

Curlewis said the NPA and Justice Department would not release the figures as they showed how few drivers arrested for being over the limit were ever convicted.

“I doubt they would like to hand those out to the public,” he said.

Road Traffic Management Corporation spokesman Ashref Ismail said the corporation was also denied access to the statistics.

Health Department spokesman Popo Maja said the turnaround time on drunk-driving tests was 12 to 18 weeks, but admitted the 2 759 samples received from the police over the festive season were yet to be processed.

KZN police spokesman Thulani Zwane said six months was more the reality. -The Mercury

Bribes are an affront to God, traffic cops told

CRIME & COURTS / 15 Jun '16,

NOMASWAZI NKOSI

Pretoria - If you accept bribes, you are an embarrassment to God. Minister of Transport Dipou Peters did not mince her words when she said this on Tuesday during the graduation ceremony of 200 traffic officers in Pretoria West.

“If you accept a bribe you are an embarrassment to God your creator and to your family. When they write about you in the newspaper they use your surname and it tarnishes your family name,” Peters said.

The mobile vehicle testing stations that Transport Minister Dipuo Peters handed over in Pretoria. Picture: Phill Magakoe. Credit: PRETORIA NEWS

She said the habit some traffic officers had of asking for “cold drink” (slang for a bribe) money should end.

“Resist the temptation to accept bribes. Enforce the law without fear, favour or prejudice,” she said.

Free State MEC for Police, Roads and Transport Butana Komphela said traffic officers who accepted bribes under his jurisdiction should not expect the union to save them.

“When a traffic officer accepts a bribe, I don’t listen to these unions. I will take these unions to court until they run out of money,” Komphela said.

In his province when someone was arrested for excessive speeding on a Thursday, they should not appear in court the following day, they should instead appear on Monday morning with their clothes reeking of a prison smell.

Peters said she loved the idea that people arrested for speeding on a Thursday should only appear in court on a Monday.

“I have spoken to the Department of Justice and the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) because we are tired of the traffic officers giving people fines of R10 000 only for the magistrate to reduce it to R200,” she said.

She announced that all traffic officers in all provinces would wear identical uniforms and the vehicles used would also be branded in the same way.

Peters handed over nine mobile testing stations, one for each province, enabling law enforcement officers to do their jobs better.

The mobile testing stations can test braking systems and faulty lights and steering wheel functions.

“The day of driving unfit vehicles is coming to an end,” Peters said.

She revealed that in cases of fatal accidents, unroadworthy vehicles were the leading cause.

One of the new recruits, Mologadi Ngoasheng, from Limpopo, won an award for the best student for her work during the 12 months they were in training. She said she was a second-year law student at the University of Johannesburg and it was through volunteer work that she wound up doing a course in traffic law enforcement.

“Not all women were created equally. The best become law enforcement officers and I am one of them,” she said during her acceptance speech.

nomaswazi.nkosi@inl.co.za

Pretoria News

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Western Cape leads in cop killings

 

• 14 Jun 2016
• Cape Times
• Dominic Adriaanse

THE Western Cape has suffered the most attacks on police officers of all provinces.

Picture: CINDY WAXA

DEATH SCENE: A police officer was shot dead last night at a garage in Delft while investigating a robbery.

This is what national police spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi, said yesterday after constable Mthetho Sandla, 35, was shot dead and his partner wounded when they responded to a business robbery in Delft early yesterday.

A total of 714 police officers have come under attack nationally – 276 in the Western Cape alone, Mulaudzi said.

About 38 police officers have been killed this year.

“As of the turn of the year, 276 police officers in total have been attacked within the province.

“The Western Cape has the most attacks on police officers of all provinces” said Mulaudzi.

Hawks spokesperson, Lloyd Ramovha, confirmed police officers responded to a robbery in progress at a garage in Delft Main Road early yesterday.

“The officers came on the scene and were ambushed by two AK-47 wielding suspects who shot at them indiscriminately before fleeing,” said Ramovha.

Three balaclava-clad accomplices emerged from the store, joined the shooters as they fled and left explosives behind, Ramovha said,

“This points at a failed ATM bombing attempt.

“A 35-year-old constable succumbed to his injuries on the scene while a warrant officer is receiving treatment at a hospital.

“No arrests have been made,” he said.

Yesterday’s incident followed last month’s killing of constable Luntu Nkabi in what his family believed was a “planned and well orchestrated” attack.

Other recent attacks on police officers included Lindekile Skade, who was shot and killed outside From page 1 his Lower Crossroads house and his official gun taken, a 32year-old constable, stationed at Mitchells Plain shot and wounded while sitting in a vehicle in Nyanga, and a 42year-old warrant officer, stationed at Milnerton, shot and wounded while responding to a business robbery in Joe Slovo, Milnerton.

Community Safety MEC Dan Plato condemned yesterday’s attack.

“This murder in cold blood is an attack on the police and an attack on the communities our officers work to keep safe,” said Plato.

His department offered a R50 000 reward for information resulting in an arrest and successful conviction.

YENGENI 'DIDN'T ENDANGER ANYONE’S LIFE' ON NIGHT OF ARREST

The ANC NEC member is back on the witness stand for the resumption of his trial in Cape Town.

FILE: Tony Yengeni leaves the Cape Town Magistrates Court after his drunk driving trial resumed on Friday, 11 December 2015. Picture: Xolani Koyana/EWN.

Xolani Koyana |

CAPE TOWN – African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) member Tony Yengeni has told the court he did not endanger anyone’s life on the night he was arrested for alleged drunk driving.
Yengeni is back on the witness stand for the resumption of his trial in the Cape Town Magistrates Court today.
The state claims the politician was three times beyond the legal limit, but he says he only had three sips of traditional beer hours before his arrest. 

Under cross examination by Prosecutor Leon Snyman, Yengeni has denied that he was driving recklessly on the night he was arrested.

Yengeni says the impression being created is that he was endangering the lives of other motorists.

But that is not the case, he argued.
He told the court the notion that he was driving while drunk is a figment of someone’s imagination.
Snyman showed the court CCTV footage of the night Yengeni was arrested, in which he alleges the politician’s vehicle made several illegal moves.
He says Yengeni had previously told the court he did not change lanes but the video shows otherwise.

(Edited by Leeto M Khoza)

City’s Informant Reward System pays off

CITY OF CAPE TOWN

7 JUNE 2016

MEDIA RELEASE

City’s Informant Reward System pays off

The return on investment has been huge since the launch of the City’s initiative to reward informants which sees members of the public paid a small cash amount in exchange for blowing the whistle on crime. Read more below:

The City of Cape Town has made dozens of arrests and recovered stolen goods and contraband worth millions of rands, courtesy of its Informant Reward System.

The City’s Safety and Security Directorate formulated the Informant Reward Policy in 2013. It makes provision for payment of up to R1 000 for information that will lead to an arrest or the successful confiscation or recovery of stolen goods or contraband.

Since the initiative was launched in October 2013, 34 payments have been made to informants, totalling R33 500. In return, the City has made 51 arrests:

Charge

Number of arrests

Theft

21

Dealing in drugs

12

Murder

6

Kidnapping/human trafficking

6

Illegal possession of firearms

5

Attempted murder

1

Total

51

In addition to the arrests, staff have also recovered the following:

· Drugs with a street value of more than R485 000

· Abalone valued at R5 million

· Four firearms, including an R4 assault rifle

· Copper cable and other metals valued in excess of R500 000

‘The return on investment is a no-brainer and if ever there was doubt about the success of the reward policy, these operational outcomes surely put those doubts to bed,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

Applications for the payment of a reward can only be submitted by the member of the Safety and Security Directorate who received the information that led to the arrest(s) or recovery of stolen goods. They have to provide proof of the informant’s involvement to a special committee which considers each application. The system is not open to people under the age of 18 or City of Cape Town employees.

‘The information is handled very sensitively because we don’t want to compromise the safety of the informants. Some people are critical of such payment reward schemes, but the benefits of stopping crimes of this nature completely outweigh the small cost of paying informants. Our enforcement staff cannot be everywhere all of the time. We need extra eyes and ears on the ground that can provide good intelligence to help us rid the streets of criminals,’ added Alderman Smith.

End

Month reprieve for Athlone driving schools

CAPETIMES 

2016-06-03

By: Siyavuya Mzantsi

Cape Town - The driving school operators facing a ban from running their businesses at the Athlone Stadium parking area have been given a one-month reprieve.

This comes after a group of frustrated driving operators met City of Cape Town officials and Athlone Stadium management to discuss the reasons behind the ban. An agreement was reached to extend their operations, and allow business owners time to formalise themselves and establish a representative body.

The City had announced in April that driving schools would no longer utilise the parking area from June 1.

This was because there had been numerous incidences in which private property was dammed through accidents in the vicinity of the stadium, along with damage to the facility’s fencing and gates, according to Athlone ward councillor Suzette Little.

Driving schools were asked to use the busy Klipfontein Road for driving lessons as an alternative.

Driving instructor Lloyd Castle said the body will engage the stadium management to establish a formal agreement. “Trucks are a huge issue. Conditions have been specified to even allow trucks to stay until we formalise ourselves and it is in the interest of truck owners to be aware of those conditions,” said Castle.

Officials were adamant that no trucks would be allowed in this area at all, but later agreed to a concession until July 1.

“A memorandum of agreement can then be signed to take us forward and engage the City on the lease and/or management of the parking areas.

“It has been agreed that there needs to be a follow up meeting before 1 July. So for now we operate.”

Little had said residents were extremely concerned about safety in general, more especially the safety of their children.

The trucks were causing weight-bearing problems to the surface of the stadium’s parking area.

However, Little could not provide the number of complaints received from residents.

She said the fencing would be erected from July 2016.

“There will be a further meeting with the management structure to discuss tariffs, public liability, etc,” she said.

Cape Times

MORE THAN 4,500 PEOPLE KILLED ON SA ROADS IN 2014/2015

Latest figures show that 80 percent of the crash fatalities involved adults and males between of 19 and 34.

FILE: Latest figures show that 80 percent of the crash fatalities involved adults and males between of 19 and 34. Picture: ER24.

JOHANNESBURG – Transport Minister Dipuo Peters says harsher laws must be put in place if government wants to deal adequately with drunk driving and speeding on the country’s roads.
Latest figures released by the department on Friday show that 80 percent of the crash fatalities in the past year involved adults and males between the ages of 19 and 34.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) report said more than 4,500 people died on South African roads.
The minister says light passenger vehicles contributed the highest number of fatal crashes in the 2014/15 financial year, with the figure at 47 percent of all road deaths.
Minibus taxis were responsible for seven percent of road deaths.
Peters says traffic officials will increase their visibility at crash hot-spots, including the N1 between Pretoria, Polokwane and the Beitbridge border post, as well as the N2 between Somerset West and Cape Town.
“There should be periodic integrated operations focused on checking the road worthiness with fines of more than R50,000 imposed on impounded heavy vehicles and R15,000 for light vehicles. It is important that we give stiffer penalties.”

The department says drunk driving remains one of the main contributing factors to crashes.

Peters says serious action needs to be taken.

“New inexperienced drivers between the ages of 25 and 34 years of age were most likely to die on the roads. Women were most likely to die on the roads as passengers, especially in public transport vehicles, while children will be affected as passengers and pedestrians.”

The latest national road traffic data shows most fatal crashes in South Africa involve young men in light vehicles, and occur over the weekends.

Most crashes between 2014 and 2015 were recorded in Gauteng, the Western Cape and in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Meanwhile, RTMC says law makers are considering lowering the blood-alcohol limit to 0,02 grams per 100 millilitres.

It also says it’s looking at imposing a minimum two-year jail sentence for drunk driving.
The current limit is 0,05 grams per 100 millilitres, but if government has its way, it could decrease all the way to zero.

The corporation’s head Makhosini Msibi says a committee is reviewing legislation, with the aim of imposing harsher penalties

“[In] particular, schedule three offences that relate to the traffic offences, to be reclassified to schedule five. Key to it is also the minimum penalty that we are considering that people have commit, [like] driving under the influence of liquor, to a minimum sentence of two years.”

Four years after a Western Cape court ruled that the Dräger Breathalyser test be suspended, authorities are now promising to reintroduce the equipment with better laws in place by November.

In 2011 an alleged drunk driver was acquitted in a landmark test case.
This resulted in court cases across the country being withdrawn, where evidence was obtained using the Dräger test.

The transport minister says final arrangements are now under way to make sure it can be used to conduct on-the-spot tests, on motorists suspected to be driving under the influence.
(Edited by Leeto M Khoza)

‘AUTHORITIES MUST DECISIVELY DEAL WITH DRUNK DRIVING’

Peters says government is in the process of finalising the re-introduction of the draeger breathalyser test.

FILE: Transport Minister Dipuo Peters. Picture: EWN

JOHANNESBURG - Transport Minister Dipuo Peters says authorities must deal decisively with drunk driving as a committee meets to discuss the option of imposing a minimum two year jail sentence for motorists caught driving under the influence.

Lawmakers are currently considering lowering the blood-alcohol limitto 0,02 gramms per 100 milliliters instead of the current 0,05 gramms per 100 milliliters.

Peters says government is in the process of finalising the re-introduction of the draeger breathalyser test.

“The Cabinet of the Republic of South Africa led by President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday discussed the challenges that are related to drunk and driving and those who drive under some substances or drugs that alter their ability to concentrate on the roads.”

Meanwhile, The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has released its annual report for the year 2014 to 2015, showing thatmore than 4,500 people died on South African roads.

(Edited by Winnie Theletsane)

City traffic chief’s unlicensed ride

9 Sep 2015 Cape Argus

Siyabonga Kalipa STAFF REPORTER kalipa.siyabonga@inl.co.za

City traffic chief’s unlicensed ride

Cape Argus enquiry galvanises officials to launch probe

A SENIOR traffic chief in the City of Cape Town is facing disciplinary action for allegedly driving an unlicensed car – a car he parked at the traffic department in full view of his colleagues. Paul Oliver, the traffic chief for the city’s west region, has been seen driving a blue Mercedes-Benz C-Class to and from work, despite the vehicle’s licence having expired on February 28.

PICTURE: HENK KRUGEREXPIRED: The Mercedes-Benz parked inside the pits at Gallows Hill testing centre. Inset: Paul Oliver and the licence disc.

Acting on a tip-off, a team from the Cape Argus staked out the Gallows Hill traffic department last week, and spotted the unlicensed vehicle, with the expired disc still attached to the windscreen, parked in the staff parking bay at the back of the building.

The city’s executive director of Safety and Security, Richard Bosman, confirmed that the city was probing the matter and that the manager was found to be driving a car without a valid licence. The city initiated action against Oliver after the Cape Argus made enquiries about the allegations.

The ownership of the vehicle has also come into question after a source in the traffic department claimed that it was not registered in the name of Oliver or his wife.

“It appears the car is not his but belongs to someone else. The reason a licence could not be taken out on the vehicle is apparently because there was an admin mark on it – which means there are outstanding warrants under the rightful owner’s name,” another official said.

Traffic officers at Gallows Hill confirmed that Oliver had been driving the vehicle well after the licence’s expiry date.

Bosman said the vehicle’s licence had expired.

“As per normal a fine was issued to the person in question on September 4, 2015 to the value of R500. The city takes the allegations very seriously and further investigation is under way. The outcome will determine further action, including disciplinary procedure if necessary,” he said.

Mayco member for Safety and Security JP Smith said the traffic department issued a fine as soon as the matter was reported and was also initiating disciplinary proceedings.

“We have an excellent track record with discipline and this case is no exception. We acted as soon as we were made aware of the situation. Oliver should set an example as someone responsible for upholding the law.”

Oliver oversees traffic operations in the city’s area west, which includes Sea Point, Camps Bay, Clifton, Hout Bay and Fish Hoek.

The Cape Argus can also reveal that Oliver had previously been accused of using city vehicles to get to and from work when in fact he was being paid a fixed car allowance in terms of which he had to provide his own transport to get to work and back home.

Bosman confirmed that in that case Oliver “pleaded guilty and paid back the money”.

He added that Oliver had informed him that he had returned the car to its owner and would be reimbursed for the private sale.

According to traffic officers, they were asked to pick Oliver up at home and drop him at work using city vehicles.

Oliver referred requests for comment to the City of Cape Town.

‘Cockroach’ taxi shock as 44 are squashed

8 Sep 2015: Cape Times: Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za

AN ASSOCIATION that represents more than 400 amaphela (cockroaches) taxi drivers says the City did not tell them it was going to destroy 44 impounded sedan taxis.

Picture: BRENTON GEACHCRUSHED: Unroadworthy and abandoned amaphela (cockroaches) sedan taxis were crushed at the vehicle pound in Ndabeni, near Pinelands, yesterday. Attempts were made to contact the owners, says the City.

Sedan taxis are referred to as amaphela because there are so many of them in the city.

Yesterday, the abandoned impounded taxis were reduced to blocks of scrap metal by an 18-ton crusher at the City’s vehicle pound in Ndabeni, near Pinelands.

The City’s Traffic Service destroyed the taxis, many of which were impounded between 2010 and 2012 and left unclaimed by their owners.

Mongi Titi, chairperson of the Kiki Murray Committee, which represents the drivers, said the association had not been informed about the destruction.

“The vehicles that were crushed belong to people who have been in the industry for a long time. Amaphela drivers were not included in the taxi recapitalisation programme. We have made strides in doing away with amaphelas and replacing them with new vehicles, but this comes as a major shock to us,” Titi said.

The City’s mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, said attempts were made to contact the owners. Operators were initially given R50 000 to scrap their old taxis. “By law, this exercise could have been done a long time ago, but space at the pound has not been an issue.”

RTMC REPORT REVEALS SHOCKING SA ROAD DEATH STATS

The RTMC has released its annual report for the year 2014 to 2015 showing over 4,500 died on SA roads.

Transport Minister Dipuo Peters at the release of the RTMC annual report, on road accidents, for the year 2014 and 2015 in Kempton Park on 11 September 2015. Picture: Mia Lindeque/EWN

JOHANNESBURG – Transport Minister Dipuo Peters says new road fatality statistics have shown 80 percent of the deaths on the country’s roads comprise of adults and males between the ages of 19 and 34.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has released its annual report for the year 2014 to 2015, showing that more than 4,500 people died on South African roads.

The department says drunk driving remains one of the main contributing factors to crashes.

Peters says serious action needs to be taken.

“New inexperienced drivers between the ages of 25 and 34 years of age were most likely to die on the roads. Women were most likely to die on the roads as passengers, especially in public transport vehicles, while children will be affected as passengers and pedestrians.”

The latest national road traffic data shows most fatal crashes in South Africa involve young men in light vehicles, and occur over the weekends.

The report has been released in Kempton Park today.

Most crashes between 2014 and 2015 were recorded in Gauteng, the Western Cape and in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

The minister says speed and alcohol abuse are the top two contributing factors that led to the 4,500 crashes between April and August this year.

She says 5,500 people lost their lives in those accidents.

“It's important that we give stiffer penalties, in particular, so that people can actually see and behave on the roads.”

She says analysis shows that 76 percent of the fatal crashes involved black people, while whites accounted for eight percent.

She adds drastic steps need to be taken to stop the carnage on the roads.

This report will be tabled in Parliament shortly.

(Edited by Masechaba Sefularo)

WCape carnage: 7 months, 348 pedestrians killed

2015-08-17

 

CAPE'S KILLER ROADS: More than 740 people have been killed on Western Cape roads since January 2015, more than 300 were pedestrians.Image: Shutterstock

  Video

Safely Home: Child pedestrian fatality map

2014-10-23 11:39

Western Cape MEC for transport and public works, Donald Grant, speaks on the province's, child pedestrian fatalities map.

Related Links

• W Cape shocker: 582 pedestrians killed
• Shocker as WCape highlights killer roads
• Safely Home: Child pedestrian fatality map
• WCape shocker: Child pedestrian horror clip

CAPE TOWN - The Western Cape’s provincial safety project, Safely Home, has launched a new campaign in August to highlight the dangers of speeding.

The reason for the campaign? The province reports more than 740 road deaths to date (January to July 2015).

The campaign is titled 'It won’t kill you to slow down'.

ROAD CARNAGE

Western Cape transport and public works MEC, Donald Grant, reports that from January to July 31 2014, 748 fatalities were recorded, compared to 742 road deaths during the same period in 2015.

2015 Western Cape road deaths (January - July):

Cyclist - 18
Driver  - 178
Fell off vehicle - 2
Motorcycle-pillion - 1
Motorcyclist - 33
Other - 11
Passenger - 151
Pedestrian - 348
Total - 742
'GRIM PICTURE'

The department said: "Pedestrians remain the leading class of fatality on Western Cape roads, accounting for over 40% of the deaths. Upon closer analysis, we also found that adult men are disproportionately represented in the number of road deaths, accounting for over 60% of road deaths in the Western Cape.

"Road deaths for the first seven months of 2015 have painted a grim picture of the situation on our roads, with very little change between this year’s figure compared to that of 2014."

READ: WCape 'shock tactics' - MEC Grant responds

The department says its data proves:

  • The faster you drive, the worse the crash will be due to the greater force involved.
  • The faster you drive, the higher the likelihood of you being in a crash due to having less   time to react to unexpected hazards.
  • Even small decreases in average speed travelled equals many lives saved.

SERIOUS CONCERN

Having experienced six consecutive years of decreases since 2009 (close to 30% decrease), these static and high figures are cause for major concern, reports Grant.

There is no question that speeding, along with drinking and driving, accounts for the vast majority of the road deaths, says the department.

The department said: "Safely Home is confident that the collective efforts will go a long way to encouraging motorists to slow down, by greatly reducing their likelihood of being involved in a horrific crash that results in a senseless loss of life."

Ex RTMC boss: 7 answers to drunk driving

2015-02-06

SEVEN WAYS TO BEAT DRUNK DRIVING:Wheels24 reader and former chair of the Road Traffic Management Corporation board JOHN SAMPSON (inset) lists steps to kill drunk driving. Image: RTT/ Shutterstock

Related Links

• Ex-DPP says 0% booze limit 'pointless'
• Zero alcohol limit: How you'll be hit
• Driving drunk? So here's what happens...

JOHN SAMPSON

Let me establish my credentials. My name is John Sampson (Pr Eng). I am a road safety expert, have 40 years’ experience in the field, and, amongst other senior positions in road traffic, was previously chairperson of the Board of the Road Traffic Management Corporation and president of the South African Road Federation.

The opinions I am about to express are however my own and I do not speak on behalf on any organisation.
DRUNK DRIVING IN SA

It's essential to recognise that drunk driving is the biggest single contributor to road fatalities in South Africa. I have seen unreleased morgue reports that 60-70% of drivers and pedestrians killed in road crashes have a blood alcohol (BA) content in excess of 0.08g/100ml.

Take into account that around 40% of all fatalities in SA are pedestrians, it becomes clear it's not only drivers that are of concern.

We have a serious problem but what should we do about it? Well, before taking knee-jerk and futile actions like setting the allowable blood alcohol level at zero, we need to know the facts:
FOUR BLOOD-ALCOHOL FACTS

• Fact 1 - One or two drinks won't affect your driving
Having one or two drinks at a time is not only good for you, it has little effect on your driving ability (no effect if you recognize you are slightly impaired and drive accordingly). A graph on Wikipedia illustrates the point as well as the stages of inebriation.

• Fact 2 - No evidence
There is no evidence, not even from blood tests on dead drivers and pedestrians in the morgue, that drivers with BA below 0.05g/100 ml are any more responsible for causing crashes than someone with zero alcohol.

• Fact 3 - Abuse and bribery is rife
That traffic officers are human beings too. They are intelligent and know a dangerous driver when they see one. If they are asked to enforce a zero alcohol limit, knowing they are not improving road safety, that they are not only wasting their time and efforts but are also likely to encounter significant abuse.
They will be far less willing to enforce an unfair law (and probably far more willing to let minor offenders off for a small amount of cash – not right of course but a reality). 
• Fact 4 - Zero limit pointless
Having a law with zero BA will not solve the problem. So what should be done?
SEVEN STEPS TO ACTION
Below is a list of seven steps that could curb drunk driving as well as drunk pedestrians and properly enforce the law:
1 Make driving with a BA of 0.05 to 0.08g/100 ml subject to a fine of about R200.
2 Make driving with a BA of 0.08 to 0.12g/100 ml subject to a fine of R1000 with a written warning that is kept on your driving record (eNatis) for three years (these record also being available to your insurer).
3 Make it illegal for a pedestrian on a roadway, other than on a pavement or legal pedestrian crossing, to have a blood alcohol content in excess of 0.08g/100 ml. Minimum fine of R200.
4 Arrest a driver, or pedestrian on a roadway, with a BA in excess of 0.12 g/100 ml. He/she must appear in court.
5 Make breath-alcohol testing legal but also apply a BA test for those cases with an equivalent BA above 0.12g/100ml.     
6 Visibly and dramatically increase the enforcement of drunken driving.
7 Make a breathalyser test mandatory for any driver or pedestrian involved in a collision resulting in injuries or deaths.

Ex-DPP says 0% booze limit 'pointless'

2015-02-05

ZERO LIMIT THE ANSWER? Do you think a zero blood alcohol limit will reduce road deaths? Many readers don't think so... Image: Shutterstock

Related Links

• Zero alcohol limit: How you'll be hit
• Driving drunk? So here's what happens...
• Drunk driving: The special effects

A former very senior member of the state's legal machinery has responded emphatically to the proposed 'zero alcohol' proposition: "It won't work!"
Wheels24 reported on Wednesday (Feb 4 2015) that the government is proposing a zero blood-alcohol limit and the public has until February 27 to respond.

A proposal to cut to ZERO the current maximum alcohol level of 0.05g/100 ml of blood was published earlier in January 2015 in the Government Gazette. The amended bill reads:
"No person shall on a public road (a) drive a vehicle or (b) occupy the driver's seat of a motor vehicle the engine of which is running, while THERE IS concentration of alcohol in any specimen of blood taken from any part of his or her body." Which means ANY alcohol at all.

FORMER PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SPEAKS

Wheels24 reader and former deputy director of public prosecutions, the now retired (in 2010) Ross Stuart, was quick to respond to the story:

Blood-alcohol testing simply takes too long and reducing the levels is pointless if there is, in effect, no enforcement. What is required, as a matter of urgency, is legislation to overcome the hurdles put in the way of breath-testing by the Western Cape High Court.

With instant results provided by breath-testing, enforcement can be done properly and effectively. The infrastructure is in place.
HURDLES WITH TECH
The hurdles relate to the the breath testing machine and the use thereof. The particular device concerned was a Drager Breath Testing machine.
I was responsible for the importing of such a machine from Australia in the late 90s for trial purposes with a view to it being used by KZN's Road Traffic Inspectorate. With no training whatsoever I and my kids were able to operate the device. It was that simple!
The court held, however, that the particular operator who had conducted the breathalyser test , was insufficiently trained and failed to follow  the standard operating procedures prescribed in the operator's manual, the legislative framework and the prosecution guidelines.
The extent of the failure impaired the legal validity of the test result. There was no proof placed before the court that the operator had ever been trained to operate the Drager Alcotest with its current software. (Thanks to article by Bowman and Gilfillan Jan 3 2012)
With all due respect this is nonsense…
The device takes you through the procedure and I do not believe that  it will work if you make any slip-ups on the way to the result.
I do not believe that the concerns of the judge in the case were real from a practical point of view and the cost to the country of not being able to make use of the device , is enormous. I am not a legal draughtsman but I do not believe that it should be difficult to draw up legislation to remove the problems of the judge.
ZERO TOLERANCE
A zero tolerance policy which we had in KZN at one stage bore fruits but the policy was eroded over the years. Zero alcohol when driving would certainly have an effect if enforced. It should be remembered that not every case is required to be prosecuted.
If someone was stopped and showed a very low concentration of alcohol and could show that it was a result of some medication, no prosecutor who is worth his/her salt, would prosecute.
There is always a discretion that can be excercised to eliminate the appropriate cases. When it comes to the matter of what could be done to reduce road deaths in this country, I could write a book about it.
I was a member of Project Victoria which was the brainchild of then transport MEC Sbu Ndebele and considerable progress was made for a while until the principles established were just completely ignored and essentially abandoned.
Stuart was the deputy director of public prosecutions until he retired in 2010 and was previously responsible for traffic prosecutions in kwaZulu-Natal.

Here's what other readers had to say:

Paddy Ross: "This proposal is absolutely ridiculous! What happens to the many people who receive communion wine during Sunday church services? Will they become 'killers' on the road? Instead, concentrate police monitoring of those who drive when well in excess of the current legal limits - they are the potential killers."
Lilian: "I don't drink at all but feel this law is just pathetic. I do get the 'flu from time to time and would probably use cough mixture. So now I will be criminalised for being sick? It's not new laws we need but the enforcement of existing ones.
"Comparing these laws to those of other countries is like comparing grapes with apples. Those countries are First World and have public transport to match. There is no such thing, especially at night, in this country."
'NO LOGIC'
Dawie Coetzee: "There is no logic in trying to reduce drunk driving by outlawing pretty-much-sober driving. It's even worse - making pretty-much-sober driving legally identical to roaring-drunk driving means making roaring-drunk driving legally identical to pretty-much-sober driving.
"As the saying goes, 'might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb'. So, if you've had one, why not another eight?
"I believe blood alcohol should be measured in certain situations, so that the evidence is subsequently available but the fixed limit should be abolished. Blood-alcohol evidence can then be considered in court together with any other relevant facts (i.e. was the person a 'responsible drunk' who knew that they were in no fit state to drive and drove in a manner according?).
'ONLY FOOLS DRIVE DRUNK'
Alicia Louise: "Only fools drive drunk. The blind-drunk driver, because of his/her 'relaxed and intoxicated' state, is usually not on the casualty list. The passengers and innocent people in other cars are killed. Many drunk-driving crashes occur on the wrong side of the road.
"I have lost many sober friends in this way. I have never (been driving since I was 12, funny but true) driven with alcohol in my system.
"When we dine out, I do not drink wine or any other alcohol and I drive home. The Gordon's Bay road has become a death trap, as is Sir Lowry's Road. On Monday mornings the signs of crashes, as people drive drunk from too many pubs and eateries, is painfully obvious."
Nicol Moodie: "This proposal borders on the stupendously stupid if not downright idiotic.
"So if you have had a few – how long will you have to wait before you drive? Remember the two-hour rule for taking of the sample is just to be able to say that when you were driving your blood alcohol level was at that level.  The alcohol stays in your blood much longer. How long is determined by a lot of factors (of which bodyweight is one). 
"If you had a lot to drink the night before and went home by taxi – you may still have some alcohol in your system when you drive to work the next morning – how do they propose to deal with this? Existing legislation is good enough – enforcement and the administrative processes need to be addressed. Get more labs going etc."
Wheels24 says: "Countries around the world that have drink/driving laws have set a low alcohol level - such as the 0.05 and 0.02g/100ml in South Africa - precisely because of that which Justice Project SA's Howard Dembovsky outlined. A few teaspoons of cough mixture will be enough to signal an illegal-alcohol reading in a road block.
"We're going to send people to jail for the weekend because they have a cold? Please guys, a little common sense here."

The Big Story: Road carnage in SA

August 13 2014 at 09:38am
By Chelsea Geach

Independent NewspapersSeminal smash: A photograph taken from Early Motoring in South Africa shows the first recorded car crash in the country. It occurred at the Maitland level crossing on October 1, 1903, when a new Darracq, driven by Charles Garlick and carrying two passengers, was caught on the rails by the Johannesburg Express, at full steam ahead. All the occupants survived.

Cape Town - We are world champions at killing children. This was the tragic conclusion of Professor Sebastian van As, speaking at the Africa Road Safety seminar on Tuesday.

“All traffic crashes are preventable,” he said.

Van As is head of trauma at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, head of Childsafe SA, and regional chairman of the Global Road Safety partnership.

At the conference, hosted annually by the partnership, experts from home and abroad presented chilling statistics.

Africa possesses only 2 percent of all the world’s vehicles, yet 20 percent of all road deaths happen here.

“WE KNOW HOW TO KILL KIDS”

Present: The site of the scene of the crash today. Picture: David Ritchie.Independent Newspapers

African roads are the most dangerous in the world – and children bear the brunt of the carnage as they make up 21 percent of all road deaths.

The first recorded car crash in South Africa took place at the Maitland level crossing on October 1, 1903.

Charles Garlick was driving his father’s new Darracq with two passengers. They entered the level crossing through an open gate, only to find the gate on the far side closed. Before Garlick could move the car, the Johannesburg Express smashed into them. All three were injured, but survived.

In the 110 years since that crash until the end of last year, more than half a million people – 543 000 – have been killed on South Africa’s roads.

SEVERE BLOWS TO THE HEAD

Van As explained that if an adult pedestrian was hit by a car, he or she was likely to have pelvic injuries. But a child’s head was closer to the height of a bonnet, and children were much more likely to be dealt blows to the critical head and chest area.

Prof Sebastian Van As. Photo: Henk Kruger/Cape Argus.Independent Newspapers

He said a child in South Africa was 25 times more likely to be admitted to hospital than a child in the US. Of the children treated at Red Cross for injuries from car accidents, most were walking to school when they were hit.

A full 71 percent of Van As’s young crash victims were pedestrians, and 11 percent were passengers not wearing a seat belt.

In the parking lot of the hospital, Van As conducted research into driving habits. How many parents visiting young patients would belt up as they left the hospital?

Half of all drivers did not wear a seat belt. Passengers were even worse: 71 percent of front seat passengers and 90 percent of back seat passengers were unrestrained.

Another conference delegate, Dr Kunuz Abdella, of the World Health Organisation, said car crashes were the leading cause of death in children up to age 19 globally. In Africa, road deaths came a close second to deaths caused by fire.

UPSTREAM CAUSES

Dr Ashley van Niekerk of the Medical Research Council looked into the causes of South Africa’s staggering road carnage.

In what he termed “upstream causes”, infrastructure was the biggest problem: limited pedestrian walkways, and few safe playgrounds for children away from roads.

Excessive travel times and distances also played a part, thanks to historical spatial divides that left many people living far away from the city or suburbs where they worked.

Inadequate law enforcement also meant that drivers breaking road rules could get away with it unpunished.

Looking closer at direct causes, he listed alcohol, speeding and motorists not wearing seat belts as the biggest problems.

Driver fatigue and aggressive road behaviour also contributed towards deaths.

As the Africa Road Safety Seminar conference continues into its second day, delegates are set to study examples of road safety interventions from around Africa, and also look into the viability of a partnership with civil society and the private sector to cut down the car crash carnage.

CALL FOR LAWS THAT “BITE”

We need laws that bite to bring traffic offenders to book, said Transport Minister Dipuo Peters in her keynote address at the Africa Road Safety seminar.

If punishments were harsher, it would put people off driving irresponsibly, and help prevent road deaths.

“In our society, people don’t take traffic offences seriously. If we can have laws that bite, and make sure we have convictions, it would change a lot.”

There should be much harsher penalties for drivers who were drunk. “They are a danger to themselves, to society and to economic development. My target is to go for zero tolerance.”

Peters said she would consider trying to amend legislation to come down harder on drunk drivers charged with killing someone in an accident they caused.

Looking at road traffic deaths in South Africa, she said that in most incidents men were the drivers – but children came out as the most vulnerable group, as either pedestrians or as small bodies easily thrown from a vehicle.

Peters announced her department’s new Scholar Transport Policy, which is soon set to run the gauntlet of scrutiny in the Cabinet and then Parliament.

With 65 percent of pupils walking to school, the policy is aimed at getting children to school safely.

If children live further than 5km from school, they will receive safe, state-subsidised transport. If children live within 5km of school, they will be given a bicycle and helmet.

The department has supervised the distribution of 95 000 bicycles since 2006, and plans to issue an additional 21 000 in the next three years.

Peters explained the national transport department’s key strategy to lower road deaths.

It relies on the upgrading of the rail transport system, which has been ailing for some time. It also relies on fledgling public transport projects, and the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme

to scrap minibus taxis in dangerous conditions.

“The National Household Transport Survey 2013 indicates that the percentage of car ownership has risen from 22.9 percent in 2003 to 32.6 percent in 2013. This increase has a direct impact on traffic congestion and presents a higher risk for road crashes. The ultimate aim of our integrated public transport system is to lessen vehicle density on our roads and thus reduce the probability of road crashes.”

Cape Argus

MyCiTi drivers ‘struggle to stay awake’

April 3 2014
By Daneel Knoetze

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CAPE ARGUS

Kayalethu Stokwe was fired for negligent driving after an accident in which he drove into the back of another bus on the fifth day of split shifts. Picture: Jason Boud

Related Stories

• MyCiti bus strike causes chaos
• MyCiTi bus drivers strike

Cape Town -

MyCiTi bus driver Johannes Gordon is so tired he often nods off at traffic lights.

“All the other cars go when the light turns green, but I sometimes find myself just sitting there in a daze. It’s up to the passengers to shout, ‘Driver, it’s green,’ and then I snap out of it.”

But that’s not the worst of it.

He drives the long route from the city to Hout Bay along Victoria Drive, and he describes his “special technique” to avoid falling asleep and letting the bus plunge off a cliff.

“I am a Christian, so I pray to God. I pray for him to keep me awake, and about other things. I find that the conversation with God helps me to stay awake. But my eyes still burn.”

Striking MyCiti drivers gather outside the Green Point depot on Wednesday. Picture: Willem Law

CAPE ARGUS

A wildcat strike on Wednesday by drivers working for Transpeninsula Investments (TPI), one of three companies contracted to provide the MyCiTi service for the City of Cape Town, seriously interrupted the service. Drivers told the Cape Argus they were endangering their own lives and those of commuters because of inadequate rest periods and exhaustion.

But TPI has denied any knowledge of these grievances and charged that the drivers had not used the proper channels to engage the management before going on their unprotected strike.

Half a dozen striking drivers spoke to the Cape Argus at the offices of the Transport and Omnibus Workers Union (Towu) in Observatory.

At issue was the split shift, which ensured that drivers were available for the morning and evening peaks. But the drivers said they did not have enough time to rest between the shifts.

Gordon said that after a few days on the split shift, he regularly nodded off behind the wheel. Commuters “would not step near a bus” if they knew how tired some drivers were.

When working a split shift, the drivers complain of having as little as an hour and a half at home, between being dropped off by the staff transport shuttle at night and being picked up again for the new day’s work.

Driver and Towu shop steward Rutherford Kiet described a typical day’s work on the split shift.

“Staff transport picks you up at 3am and then the bus picks up other drivers. At around 5am you are in the depot, and your shift starts. Sometimes you have to wait and only drive out on your first trip around 6.30am. You drive until around 10 or 10.30am.

“Then there is a break for a few hours, but nowhere to sleep – just steel chairs at the depot. There is not enough time to travel home if you live in Khayelitsha or Mitchells Plain.

“Your second work period is between about 5pm and 10.30pm, then back to the depot. But everyone has to wait for the last bus (which comes in at about 11pm) before the staff transport takes us home. Sometimes you get back at 1.30am. Then, you have to be ready to go again at 3am.”

Attempts to raise this grievance with TPI had fallen on deaf ears, Kiet added.

Frustrations boiled over on Wednesday and workers embarked on an unprotected strike, apparently triggered by the dismissal of driver Kayalethu Stokwe, who on Friday was found guilty by a disciplinary committee of negligent driving and fired.

The hearing followed a collision in which he drove into the back of another bus on the fifth day of split shifts.

He blames the crash on sleep-deprivation.

“I worked as a Golden Arrow driver for many years. I crashed because I fell asleep, not because I am a bad driver.”

Commuters were caught off guard when buses on the CBD, Dunoon, airport and Hout Bay services all failed to arrive on Wednesday morning.

Ghaalid Behardin, a TPI director, said: “This is all news to me. Why have these grievances not been raised with us via the proper channels? Instead, the agitators embarked on an unprotected strike and intimidated their colleagues into a work stoppage through threats of violence. That is unacceptable.”

However, Nezaam Davids, of the SA Road Passenger Bargaining Council, said he investigated allegations of unlawfully short rest periods and underpayment on March 10.

He found that both allegations had veracity, held a meeting with managers at TPI and issued a compliance order to the company.

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act prescribes a minimum daily rest period of 10 or 12 hours.

Towu president Fuad Inglis said that conditions at TPI amounted to “modern-day slavery”.

At first, the city avoided queries about the drivers’ working conditions, saying that it was inappropriate for it to comment on a labour dispute between TPI and its employees.

Later, mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron said the allegations were concerning.

“If these allegations are in fact true, they would certainly impact on the safety of commuters and the staff of MyCiTi service.

“The city will investigate them with urgency.”

The workers had agreed to return to work on Thursday, and TPI said that as long as the drivers were at work, the services would be restored.

* TPI, Table Bay Area Rapid Transit and Kidrogen are the companies that have 12-year contracts with the city to provide the MyCiTi service.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Scooters ‘used to transport drugs’

April 3 2014 at 12:06pm
By Warren Fortune

 

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CAPE ARGUS

A Ghost Squad officer confiscates a scooter with a fake number plate at a repair shop in Manenberg. Pictures: Willem Law

Cape Town -

Drug dealers and gangsters are using a relatively new and mobile method of transporting their contraband around Cape Flats communities – the humble scooter.

The Cape Argus joined mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith and the City of Cape Town’s Ghost Squad on Wednesday as they searched the streets of Manenberg for suspected couriers.

Smith said many of the scooters used to carry drugs and firearms were either stolen or unlicensed. This was why the city’s traffic services (Ghost Squad) were involved in the joint operation with metro police and law enforcement officers.

“These poegies (scooters) are an absolute menace. They are used as runners in these high-risk communities like Manenberg to transport things like drugs from the seller to buyer,” said Smith. “They are now in substantial quantities, but what we have found out is that many that are used by the gangsters are stolen, not roadworthy and sometimes the VIN numbers are filed off as well.”

While doing the rounds on Wednesday, officials confiscated two scooters that had false licence plates. One of the scooters, which was found at a scooter repair shop, had a licence plate that belonged to a different make of vehicle.

One of the impounded scooters. It is believed scooters are being used to carry drugs and illegal firearms.

CAPE ARGUS

Smith said operations would be conducted in other high-risk areas as well, including Tafelsig, Elsies River, Beacon Valley and Athlone.

Smith also wants traffic officials to be more prominent in these areas, as it is only on major roads and highways and in central business areas where they are visible.

“These people who operate the scooters will stay in the confines of their neighbourhoods, because they know there is no type of authority watching over them… Once they go out on the main roads, then they know there is a risk of them being caught.”

Traffic officer Arthur Ripepi said the scooters were used not only to hide the drugs but also as a lookout.

“They normally hide (the drugs) underneath the seat or sometimes they have them on themselves. What gives us a real headache is that they use these people on scooters or motorcycles as spotters and tell each other when we are nearby.”

Although their main focus was on reckless driving on major roadways, Ripepi said working in areas like Manenberg was a unique experience.

“It is quite interesting, especially driving through the narrow side streets… and by visiting these places, you become accustomed to them.”

Cape Town traffic service spokeswoman Maxine Jordaan said residents in high-risk areas needed to know that their communities were serviced as well, and not just traffic hot spots.

warren.fortune@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

A beautiful and difficult bubble

March 26 2014
By Kieran Legg

 

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CAPE ARGUS

Cape Town-140314. Mitchells Plain's first ever traffic officer, Thomas Michael, took an Argus team on a historical tour of the area. Photo: Jason Boud

Cape Town - It seemed to grow from the dunes like a plantation. The brick homes stacked up slowly; bric-a-brac stalks rising tenaciously in the strong south-easter.

This is how Thomas Michaels, Mitchells Plain’s first traffic officer, remembers the township becoming the sprawling mini-city it is now.

The settlement is nearing its 40th birthday and there are more than 300 000 people living in the area.

But in 1976, it was the Wild West, the dunes echoing with the clangs of construction, with only sand roads to police and tumbleweed to clear from the half-built walls of future homes.

“There was nothing here, absolutely nothing,” says Michaels. “I sat here and I watched.”

Standing in the middle of Silversands Road where the old police station used to be – a small outhouse where the settlement’s first five officers slept, ate and worked – Michaels is still awestruck by the exponential expansion of what was once just a desert.

This picture, taken in 1982, shows a boy playing in a street off Dagbreek Avenue in the suburb of Westridge. (Civic Bulletin,December 1979)

ARCHIVE

“Here it was just sand,” he says, pointing down the road. “And over there,” now pointing at the dunes, “was the first home. BJ Vorster (prime minister during the late 1960s-70s) himself handed keys to the first resident.”

Mitchells Plain was designed by the apartheid government in the mid-1970s as a model suburb for coloured people. Intended as a “dormitory suburb”, the development was shown to international dignitaries as an example of the regime’s housing efforts on the plain.

By the late 1980s, the original 56 homes had grown to more than 33 000 – a rapid pace that would continue to characterise the suburb’s later expansion.

In the early days, Michaels’s directorate was simple. With little infrastructure, he was mainly an information officer – an “advert” for the law enforcement to come.

But as taxis moved into the area and the roads were frequented by more than the occasionally rolling ball of fynbos, he found himself pulling over drunk drivers on their way to Monwabisi beach and policing roadblocks on the suburb’s main roads.

“The case I remember best was busting a woman who was selling drivers’ licences from her home,” he says. “It was my first real case.”

But while crime was relatively low-key, there were already signs of the gang violence that would later plague parts of the suburb.

The area’s first station commander, Abraham Pieterson, 69, remembers that his early work involved cracking down on the gangs that moved into the area.

“You must understand, there was basically nothing connecting Mitchells Plain to the city,” he says.

In a way, the suburb existed in a self-contained bubble, and the unemployed quickly turned to crime to make a living, he says.

“These guys weren’t violent, yet. They knew which corner was theirs and they kept it that way. But we would often open post boxes (on patrols) to find packets of mandrax and dagga… They operated on a simple philosophy: you party now for free, you pay on Friday.

“They were powerful guys, respected by the community, you know. It was difficult to get people to talk,” he says.

When police did manage to nab gangsters, they were kept in cells built from corrugated iron, which stood in the back garden of the police station, boiling in the sun.

“Mitchells Plain was an interesting place, and difficult… It was also beautiful.”

Michaels shares Pieterson’s fond memories of the suburb’s early days. But unlike the policeman, the now retired traffic officer is pessimistic about Mitchells Plain’s future.

“There is no respect here for authority anymore,” he says. “We need more officers, we need to turn this around.”

kieran.legg@inl.co.za

Cape Argus