Draft Traffic By-law shifts up a gear
07 February 2020
A special committee has been sifting through nearly two-thousand submissions received on the amended by-law, which was circulated for public participation in October 2019.
The City of Cape Town’s Safety and Security Portfolio Committee is moving forward with the finalisation of the amended Traffic By-law.
The document attracted huge interest when it was circulated for public comment a few months ago. Apart from the call for submissions, the Portfolio Committee also facilitated a number of meetings with interested and affected parties, including e-hailing services, the moto-bikers association and community safety structures.
A summary of the key proposed amendments is available here: https://www.capetown.gov.za/Media-and-news/City%20proposes%20a%20raft%20of%20changes%20to%20its%20Traffic%20By-Law
Currently, a multi-disciplinary commentary response team is dealing with the public comments received on the proposed amendments to the Traffic By-Law.
The team consists of Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Councillor Mzwakhe Nqavashe, as well as representatives from the City’s Public Participation Unit, Traffic Service, Law Enforcement, Legal Services and the Strategic Policy Unit.
They have been sifting through 1 800 submissions received during the public participation process, and preparing responses to all submissions.
‘Approximately sixty percent of the submissions received were from the motorcycling fraternity, based on a misreading of the proposed amendments. While the City set out to rectify the misunderstanding at the time, the commentary response team will also engage with those who made submissions to allay their fears.
‘I would like to thank all of those who made submissions on the draft Traffic By-law, but also our Auxiliary policy. Their views and opinions are extremely valuable in helping to shape strong local legislation that will change behaviour and ultimately make our city a safer place for all,’ said Councillor Nqavashe.
The commentary response team is likely to complete its assignment by mid-February. This will be followed by a Safety and Security Portfolio Committee workshop at the end of February where the comments received will be considered and revisions made to the draft by-law, if required.
It is hoped that the final draft will go before the Portfolio Committee for approval in March, following which it will serve before the Mayoral Committee and full Council for final vetting.
‘Our roads are becoming more congested and the level of lawlessness to is a source of great frustration, in spite of our best efforts. We hope that this amended by-law will help keep more road users in check, as it will give our staff greater powers to act against serious offenders. I’d like to thank staff who made a contribution during the public participation process, but also to our portfolio committee for driving this process,’ said Councillor Nqavashe.
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
