Traffic Services lift the load

03 April 2025

A new vertical lift truck has been added to the department’s towing fleet, to clear illegally parked vehicles more efficiently, and in a manner that conventional tow trucks can’t.

The vertical lift truck is not an entirely new concept – years ago, the City’s Traffic Services had access to a contracted vehicle. When that contract ceased, work started to finalise specifications and other requirements to acquire a vertical lift vehicle for the City – that goal was finally achieved in the current financial year.

Its acquisition takes the Traffic Services’ towing fleet to seven vehicles, and three more on the way.

The vertical lift truck removed six vehicles during the last week of March.

‘This vertical lift truck makes it so much easier to remove vehicles, particularly ones that are parked in and can’t be moved using the conventional tow trucks. Its forklift mechanism makes the work a breeze. It’s early days yet, and our staff are familiarising themselves with the new vehicle, so we expect the rate of pickups to increase rapidly in the near future. This should be a wake-up call to those motorists who think they can get away with breaking the law by parking as they please, without due regard for others,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

There are numerous circumstances under which a vehicle can be towed away by enforcement services.

Section 56 of the City’s Traffic By-law of 2021 outlines a number of ways a vehicle is deemed to be illegally parked. Where such a vehicle is causing an obstruction to the safe passage of other road users, it can be impounded.

In terms of the National Road Traffic Act, a vehicle is considered abandoned if it's left on a public road in a manner that creates a danger or obstruction to traffic, or if it's left in a metered parking space, parking ground, or garage for a continuous period of seven days or more.

The Traffic Services receives daily complaints about vehicles causing obstructions.

In the past nine months, staff have towed away 352 vehicles for by-law violations, causing an obstruction or for being abandoned.

Once a vehicle is impounded, the owner is required to pay the fine as well as the impoundment release fee before they can take possession of the vehicle.

If the vehicle is not claimed within three months, the City can dispose of it via auction to recoup costs, or in the case of unroadworthy vehicles, it can be crushed.

Residents can alert the Traffic Services to incidents of illegal parking or abandoned vehicles by phoning the City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre on 021 480 7700 from a cellphone and 107 from a landline.

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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office