Cops remove rocks, concrete chunks from Cape Town’s N2 daily

The City of Cape Town’s Metro Police removes almost a bakkie load of rocks and concrete chunks from the N2 highway nearly every night which are placed by criminals trying to force motorists to stop.

“While opportunistic criminals lie in wait for motorists to stop, slow down or have their vehicles disabled, it also has other consequences,” said the City’s mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith.

“Inclement weather, such as thick mist or heavy rain, also lead to more collisions as visibility is reduced and the debris has less chance of being spotted.”

In addition to their normal patrols, the Metro Police officers removed the rocks and concrete from the highway.

ALSO READ: Mpumalanga motorists under siege as tyre spiking soars

Smith said some of the objects were placed strategically along stretches of the N2 – from Borcherds Quarry to the Symphony Way bridge and on the R300 and Airport approach off-ramp.

“The success of the ambush is based on motorists not being able to see the obstruction, and therefore day time incidents are rare. Despite this, motorists need to be vigilant at all times and not count on daylight as a preventative measure,” warned Smith.

He said the rocks were also placed in different lanes so that a motorist swerving out of one lane, might hit the object further along in a different lane.

“Do not be fooled into thinking that it’s a stone that may have fallen off a truck or it’s there by accident. These are deliberate criminal attempts so that when vehicles break down, passengers are robbed or possibly worse,” said Smith.

News24