Residents and businesses along Misty Cliffs near Scarborough have confirmed to Smile FM that a viral video showing a bakkie plunging off a steep road in the area on Sunday, 26 April, is authentic.
Neither City Traffic nor the Provincial Traffic Department had received any reports of the incident.
According to the community, the driver had been collecting furniture from a property on Old Camp Road when the vehicle’s brakes apparently failed. The bakkie then went over the low roadside wall and plunged onto Main Road below.
The driver managed to climb out of the vehicle, shaken but seemingly unharmed.
Residents say a section of the wall was damaged in the incident. Council workers were on site on Wednesday to place danger tape on the affected section. They returned with sandbags and a warning sign a short while later.
They add that the video does not show workers who had been riding on the back of the bakkie jumping off moments before it went over the edge.
The incident was captured on a roadside CCTV camera operated by the Misty Cliffs Village Association.
One of the association’s leaders, Seema Khehar, told Smile FM that residents have repeatedly raised concerns with the City of Cape Town about the dangers of Old Camp Road, calling for measures such as warning signage, an entry barrier, a safety wall and/or painted red lines.
She says the latest incident is not isolated, noting that in recent months, two trucks have overturned on the steep road, while another crashed into the wall, causing further damage. Heavy trucks, ignoring the 3-ton limit on the road, also get stuck there periodically.
