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Motorists found themselves on the wrong side of the law for drunk driving, outstanding warrants and even possession of drugs. Read more below:
The City of Cape Town’s Traffic Service arrested 179 suspects and issued 1 097 fines for various offences over the past four days.
Among those arrested were 117 motorists for driving under the influence of alcohol, 56 for outstanding warrants, and six others on a range of charges including possession of drugs (see photographs above), riotous behaviour, reckless and negligent driving, and possession of dangerous weapons.
Officers staged 10 roadblocks in various parts of the city and held operations focusing on illegal street racing in Eerste River and Bellville. One motorist was found behind the wheel of his car while more than five times over the legal blood-alcohol limit. At one roadblock in Lentegeur on Sunday 11 September 2016, officers netted 20 suspects for driving under the influence of alcohol.‘Another weekend, another round of shocking drunk driving statistics. The sad reality is that many of these motorists who are caught simply return to their bad habits because cases take so long to finalise and many are eventually thrown out. We will continue seeing this type of flagrant disregard for the law as long as the system allows it or until we get to a point where we can once more publicly shame these individuals,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
Elsewhere, City traffic officers impounded five vehicles during a scholar transport operation in Belhar on Thursday 8 September 2016, while 21 vehicles were impounded during a sedan taxi operation in the Green Point area on Saturday 10 September 2016.
The City’s Law Enforcement Department meanwhile arrested 30 suspects on various charges, including malicious damage to property and possession of drugs, stolen property and dangerous weapons. Officers also confiscated 521 litres of alcohol and 175 CDs, impounded two vehicles used for illegal dumping, executed 65 warrants, and issued fines for littering, dumping and other offences totalling just over R36 000.
‘Illegal dumping continues to be a massive headache for our enforcement agencies, but also for the members of the public affected by it. Not only is it an eyesore, but illegal dumping poses a health hazard which the culprits are either oblivious to or simply don’t care about. Hopefully the fact that we’ve now started impounding vehicles used in illegal dumping will help turn the tide,’ said Alderman Smith.
The Metro Police Department arrested 44 more suspects during their weekend operations – the bulk of them for drug-related offences. Officers also confiscated various quantities of drugs, including 133 packets of tik, as well as a homemade zip gun and nearly R16 000 in cash. An integrated search warrant operation with officers from the Delft Police Station on Friday 9 September 2016 yielded an unlicensed firearm and six rounds of ammunition.
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