Warnings about parking violations in Cape Town – Photo: Flickr / Jochen Spieker
Warnings about parking violations in Cape Town – Photo: Flickr / Jochen Spieker
The City of Cape Town has introduced a few controversial by-laws in the past – and this latest legal amendment is likely to split opinion, too. JP Smith, MAYCO Member for Safety, revealed this week that he and his fellow officials now have ‘additional measures’ to crush impounded cars.
Cape Town officials give offenders 90-day deadline – or else their cars will be CRUSHED!
The Traffic by-law essentially gives vehicle owners 90 days to pay impounding costs, regardless of the offence. They will get the best part of three months to settle the balance. However, if they miss this deadline, the COCT will be empowered to take two courses of action.
According to the updated rules, the City can put the seized motor up for public auction to recover the costs. The remaining balance will then be transferred to the owner’s bank account. However, traffic authorities also have the option to get the vehicle ‘completely destroyed’.
JP Smith says new by-law ‘will encourage better behaviour’
Aware of a possible public backlash, JP Smith has moved fast to explain the policy. He claims that this new by-law will be a successful deterrent to offenders, who will have to think twice before disregarding the rules of the road…
“Under the new Traffic by-law, the City of Cape Town now has additional measures available. Once the owner has been notified of the vehicles impoundment, the owner has three months to settle such costs and remedy the cause of the vehicle being impounded.”
“They can then claim the vehicle, failing which, it can either be destroyed or sold on public auction to defray such cost. Section 64 of the Traffic by-law of 2021 describes such mechanisms, where the City will then recover the costs by means of selling the vehicle on public auction.“
“The transfer of any remaining balance will go to the owners account. While this harsh action may be criticised as a ‘money-making scheme’, it’s worth noting that people should instead choose to abide by the laws – then vehicles wouldn’t stand a risk of being impounded.” | JP Smith
Watch: Cape Town ready to crush cars ‘with unsettled impounding fees’
- Smith also shared footage of the crushers at work to his Facebook page – to show millions of local road users that he means business…
