Wanted driver arrested as City prepares for festive roadshow

The City of Cape Town’s Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) in-vehicle solution has led to a Traffic Officer finding a “wanted” motorist who owes the City more than R200 000.

On Sunday, while driving in the Bellville area, a traffic officer attached to the City’s Transport Enforcement Unit received an alert on the tablet in his vehicle, after the in-vehicle camera read the licence plate on a bakkie in front of him.

The ANPR showed that the motorist had 262 fines, 114 warrants and owes the City R209 200.

The 34-year-old suspect was taken into custody – he is appearing in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

At the same time, the City’s Law Enforcement authorities have arrested 360 suspects and recorded 71 843 traffic and by-law offences in the past week.

Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith says City authorities have highlighted multiple arrests in recent months, where scofflaws have been tracked down, either by specialist tracing teams or via the ANPR technology.

According to Smith, the system is improving efficiency by allowing officers to focus on the right vehicles, making it increasingly more difficult to hide.

“I would therefore advise motorists to pay their fines timeously if they do not want to end up behind bars.”

Preparations for Festive Season Traffic Roadshow

The City’s safety and Security Directorate are finalising the details of the next traffic roadshow where motorists are able to settle outstanding fines and warrants at one location.

MMC JP Smith says these roadshows have become increasingly popular in recent years. Smith has encouraged motorists with outstanding fines or warrants not to spend all their money on black Friday specials and to buy some peace of mind at the roadshow instead.

The roadshow will be held on the Concourse Level at the Civic Centre in the CBD – on weekdays only, from Monday, 2 December to Wednesday, 11 December, between 08:30 and 14:00.

Apart from traffic fines, the roadshow will also allow customers to resolve queries relating to their City rates/services accounts and complete applications for indigent and/or pensioner’s rebates.

Other Weekly Enforcement operations

In other enforcement news, Traffic Officers arrested 42 suspects, 27 of which were for driving under the influence, eight for reckless and negligent driving and seven for various other transgressions.

Officers recorded 63,620 offences, impounded 328 public transport vehicles and executed 908 warrants of arrest.

Meanwhile, Law Enforcement officers made 248 arrests in the past week and issued 4 400 notices for various by-law offences while their Metro Police counterparts made 70 arrests, and issued 3 823 traffic and by-law fines.

The Public Emergency Communication Centre recorded 1 796 incidents over a 48-hour period this past weekend, including 104 fires, 123 cases of assault, 206 noise nuisance calls, 48 domestic violence incidents, and 60 motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents.