Cape Town: The City of Cape Town continues to roll out its biggest safety investment in over a decade. It launched 40 new Metro Police Officers dedicated to the N2 highway, Airport and Borcherd’s Quarry precincts.
Reportedly, the new officers will enhance existing safety efforts along the N2, and will form part of the 700 new City police officers who have begun their deployment across the city, including dedicated neighbourhood policing in every ward.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis joined the new officers along the N2 today together with MMC for Safety and Security – Alderman JP Smith.
The City has beefed-up N2 safety presence forms as part of the broader Integrated Freeway Safety Plan targeting various priority freeways, including the R300, N1, N7, M3 and M5, as well as various secondary arterial routes.
Lewis said that this new deployment of 40 Metro Police Officers will enhance the existing enforcement presence and will increase safety efforts along the N2 and neighbouring Airport and Borcherd’s Quarry precincts.
The Integrated Freeway Safety Plan by the City of Cape Town has goes beyond the deployment of more officers on various key routes, to track these areas with sophisticated camera technology, including automated licence plate recognition. He stated that officers are further equipped with dashcam tech capable of identifying stolen vehicles and other transgressions.
As City of Cape Town is making major investments in policing resources, they are sending a clear message to the partners in SAPS and national government that they are here to help in making Cape Town safer, including the key N2 route for commuters and visitors to the city.
Safety operations along the N2 will run on a 24/7 basis, taking into account the incidents which tend to occur in the early hours when traffic is quieter along the route.
Incidents are primarily opportunistic in nature, where criminals target motorists who have stopped along the side of the road, either to drop or pick up passengers; to take a call, or because of a mechanical issue.
In 2024, a full 85% of the 2,215 incidents responded by Metro Police officers on the N2 and R300 related to vehicle mechanical issues, motorists running out of fuel, or as a result of flat tyres.
During this period, officers recorded eight instances where they rendered assistance to motorists who were robbed. These City operational statistics are aside from those incidents which are responded by South African Police Service (SAPS).