Photo: City of Cape Town / Twitter
Photo: City of Cape Town / Twitter
The City of Cape Town has issued a stark warning for motorists in the metropole, after a highly effective new hijacking trend was detected on several highways – and municipal officials are now acutely aware of the problem.
Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith, shared a statement on the matter earlier this afternoon. He explained that the devious carjackers are placing large stones and blocks of rubble in the road, in order to force vehicles to pull over, or worse still, crash into the tactically placed debris
“It has become a near-nightly occurrence for Metro Police officers to remove rubble from the N2 in addition to their regular patrols. While opportunistic criminals lie in wait for motorists to stop, slow down, or have their vehicles disabled, it also has other consequences. Inclement weather, also leads to more collisions as visibility is reduced.”
Despite the plot involving nothing more than rocks and rubble, there is a degree of sophistication to this hijacking method: Strategic timings, placements, and targets are all part of the operation
Although no specific hot-spots for these type of hijackings have been established yet, COCT have warned that there are a couple of areas they continue to monitor – with the N2 under near-constant surveillance.
“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. Do not be fooled into thinking that it’s a stone that may have fallen off a truck or it’s there by accident.”
“While there are no exact locations for where rubble is placed, officers concentrate their efforts between Borchards Quarry as far as the Symphony Way bridge and predominately inbound between the R300 and the Airport approach off-ramp. Metro Police officers patrol the N2 for 22 hours a day.” City of Cape Town Statement