Warrant dodgers netted

25 August 2023

The City’s Traffic Service conducted an integrated enforcement operation last night arresting offenders with warrants of arrest for various traffic and road safety transgressions as well as two suspects for robbery and illegal possession of firearms. All the offenders arrested with outstanding warrants were on the Top 100 list, with one offender totalling 72 warrants against his name

Traffic officers visited specific addresses in areas such as Kraaifontein, Kenwyn, Khayelitsha and Eerste River, among others, arresting 19 suspects on various outstanding warrants. Collectively, these suspects had accumulated 524 warrants of arrest totalling more than R600 000. Most of those arrested were public transport operators.

 The top three of those arrested last night had 72, 55 and 33 warrants of arrest against them respectively.

 Last month, the City's Traffic Service reported that over a six-month period between January and June 2023, officers managing the Top 100 list issued 14 773 warrants and arrests were made in relation to approximately 2 000 of these warrants.

 In addition to the warrants of arrest, it is important to note the National Road Traffic Act makes provision for the placement of an administration mark against the identity number of an offender with outstanding warrants, which means that the offender will not be able to perform any transactions on the Natis system – this includes the renewal of driving licences and motor vehicle licences.

 'This is not the first time that Traffic Service conducted such an enforcement operation – and it will not be the last. The operation last night was the biggest such operation to date and will now become a regular intervention. Road traffic rules and regulations and the City's interventions to make roads safer applies to all.  During the recent negotiations with SANTACO, they asked the City to focus on the conduct of the drivers of the taxis and to ensure that the rule of law apply to them. This operation last night and the ones that will follow demonstrate that we are holding both owners and drivers accountable to improve commuter and road safety,' said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith. 

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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office