In 2011, the City of Cape Town initially first introduced its Traffic By-law which provides for the regulation of public transport vehicles and traffic within the City’s jurisdiction in line with national legislation, as provided for in the Constitution.
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The City’s Safety and Security Portfolio Committee spearheaded a review of the by-law in 2019. The amended Traffic By-law was circulated for public participation in October 2019 and solicited more than 1 800 comments. However, it was finally gazetted on Tuesday, 29 July 2022 and it paves the way for more effective traffic enforcement, and ultimately, safer roads for all.
In a statement, the chairperson of the Safety and Security Portfolio Committee, Councillor Mzwakhe Nqavashe acknowledged the members of the Portfolio Committee and officials who contributed towards this mammoth task.
“It has taken us roughly three years to get to this point, and we hope that law-abiding road users and citizens in general will benefit from this undertaking. Next steps include training and information sessions for enforcement staff on the practical application and enforcement of the amended by-law,” Nqavashe said. He also requested that the public should familiarise themselves with the document and to ensure that they abide by the law.
The amended by-law makes provision for the impoundment of vehicles in certain instances, including:
- Where the vehicle was involved in reckless or negligent driving or illegal street racing
- The driver is under the influence of alcohol
- The driver is unlicensed
- The driver disobeys an instruction to stop or pull over, resulting in pursuit
- The vehicle is unregistered, has an expired licence disc older than 90 days, is not roadworthy or has been abandoned
Irrespective of the increase in enforcement, bad driving behaviours continue to flourish in South Africa. We often see it over weekends or particularly festive or seasonal times of the year. Furthermore, the amendments to this by-law should go a long way towards curbing reckless driving by all motorists, as well as those who use the public roads for racing, who pose a serious and often life threatening risk to other road users.
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Picture: SAPS/ Facebook