Ahead of the busy Easter holiday weekend, the City’s Safety and Security Directorate says its Public Emergency Communication Centre received calls for 171 traffic incidents, including 39 motor vehicle accidents and a dozen more involving pedestrians.
Additionally, traffic officers made 57 arrests, 50 of which were for drunk driving, three for reckless and negligent driving and four on various other charges.
Traffic officers also recorded 69 233 traffic violations, impounded 208 public transport vehicles and executed 656 warrants of arrest.
This comes after the Western Cape Mobility Department noted that in the first three months of this year, from 1 January to 15 March, 238 people have died on provincial roads. Pedestrians continue to make up the highest number of fatalities, with 134 pedestrians killed in the mentioned time period.
READ MORE: 5 killed in West Coast crash days after Easter Road Safety Plan launch
Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, says several housebreakings, armed robbery, metal theft, smash and grabs and shooting incidents were also reported.
This past weekend, the Public Emergency Communication Centre dispatched assistance to 1,464 incidents. Priority policing incident calls went from 34 a week ago to 61 this past weekend, including 22 shooting incidents.
Smith says this past weekend, which coincided with month-end, saw emergency call takers also dispatch assistance to 448 medical incidents, including 89 cases of assault, 414 by-law complaints and 61 priority policing incidents – up from eight the previous weekend.
“These are reported incidents, so the actual number is likely far higher. Our enforcement services also recovered several firearms again this past week, which begs the now all too regular question of supply lines and what’s being done by national government to dismantle them,” added Smith
As the highly anticipated army deployment to some of Cape Town’s crime hotspots draws closer, Smith says that while this short-term intervention is welcomed, the City needs far stronger investigative capabilities and prosecutions to effectively tackle the gun and gang violence.
