One of the City’s most wanted, in terms of outstanding warrants and fines, has been arrested.

A Transport Enforcement Unit officer deployed Automated Number Plate Recognition Technology on Voortrekker Road in Parow on Tuesday, and ended up pulling over a repeat offender.

The mini-bus taxi driver had 50 outstanding warrants, totaling R132 550. In addition, the driver also has outstanding fines not yet in summons stage, totaling R241 750 – an overall tally of R374 300.

The 24-year-old was arrested, and his vehicle impounded, as he did not have a valid operating licence.

The Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith says this shows the utter disregard for law and order that some people have:

‘These numbers are absolutely staggering – can you imagine how many transgressions one would have to commit in a short space of time to rack up that amount in fines? On the upside, this is also an example of how we are putting technology to use to catch law-breakers. We issue repeated warnings to road users about staying in the right lane … let this serve as a reminder to scofflaws that they are not untraceable.’

Smith says the City impounds thousands of taxis each month and issue over 200 000 fines, but the taxi owner simply pays the impound release fee and puts the same driver back on the road, sometimes within hours.

The drivers often ignore the fines and continue with their bad driving behavior, but the hope is that the new technology will put an end to that.

The City started equipping its law enforcement officers with body worn cameras and in-vehicle cameras with Automated Number Plate Regocnition (ANPR) technology towards the end of 2023.

This roll-out was the first of its kind in South Africa and forms part of the City’s R860m safety technology investment over the next three years to make Cape Town safer.

800 officers in total have been equipped with bodycams, while 290 in-vehicle dashboard mounted cameras or ‘dashcams’ have been installed.

The Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology is proving to be a powerful weapon in traffic officers’ arsenal, as they are alerted instantly to wanted vehicles and outstanding warrants.

It also enables officers to record evidence of incidents as they happen, while also streaming live video to the City’s control rooms.