As the debate rages on over the City’s planned project to build a R114 million “security wall” along the N2, a doctor from Germany has become the latest victim on the so-called Hell Run.
69-year-old Gary Firer and his wife were on their way back to Cape Town International Airport in their rental car on Thursday, 19 February, at around 3 PM, to fly back to Germany, when a brick was thrown through the driver’s side, hitting him on the chin.
In an interview with Die Burger, Firer, who originally hails from Durban, said they were driving on Airport Approach Road when they spotted a man standing in the middle of the road, and it appeared that the man wanted Firer to stop the car.
He says the man then pointed at glass shards on the road, which he thought were probably from previous attacks. Firer then hit the gas, driving around the man. That’s when he lobbed the brick through the window. There were also other bricks lying in the road.
Firer says he raced straight to Avis at the airport, not thinking for a moment to stop. Avis provided first aid, called an ambulance and informed the police.
He claims another victim was being attended to as well.
“The ambulance arrived quickly. While they were still busy with me, a young, blonde woman from Johannesburg also arrived. A brick hit her in the face.”
Firer says paramedics, after assisting him, wanted to take him to the hospital for stitches, but he didn’t want to because he and his wife would then miss their flight.
He told Die Burger that while he and his wife visit South Africa regularly, he will never return, and he plans to warn others as well.
The attack on Firer came hours before an influencer, StephanZA, claimed he was almost hijacked on the airport access road, on Thursday night. He recounts the ordeal in a YouTube video.
A day before, on 18 February, three gun-toting suspects attempted to stop motorists near the Mew Way off-ramp.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, who took his “security wall” pitch to communities along the problematic stretch earlier in the month, said this incident provided further impetus for getting a proper security barrier up and running.
The City has allocated R114m in its adjustment budget for this. Hill-Lewis says the N2 Edge safety project not only aims to improve safety for commuters, but also for pedestrians, and communities along the earmarked 9km stretch of the N2.
Besides safety barrier repairs and reinforcements, the City says the project will bring various safety improvements for adjacent communities, including new pedestrian crossings, improved lighting and access control, safety barriers for recreational spaces, safer grazing practices, and reduced scope for illegal dumping.
There has, however, been vehement backlash against the project, with some detractors claiming the City is “criminalising poverty.”
The GOOD Party says crime along the N2 is a result of the DA’s “persistent failure to advance bold, progressive, and people-centred solutions.”
“Instead of addressing deep service delivery backlogs in Kanana, Barcelona, Europe and surrounding informal settlements, the City has opted for divisive and cosmetic interventions that prioritise image management over meaningful change.”
Activist Zackie Achmat said the City must work on making informal settlements safer, not erect an “Israeli apartheid wall.”
“Working-class people in Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Silvertown, Valhalla Park, and Mitchell’s Plain face much worse crime on a minute-by-minute basis. We do not need an Israeli apartheid wall. The City of Cape Town has bought enough security toys to effectively patrol the N2. Or, are they kept in JP Smith’s toy cupboard? Make informal settlements safe, and we will all be safer.”
