Illegal street racing in Marine Drive (from Paarden Island to Table View) is wreaking havoc for residents who say this growing concern does not only violate the road rules, but keeps them up at night.
Residents say they are forced to endure the loud noise and squeaky brakes each time drivers pass through Marine Drive.
“I wake up more than five times each night due to the noise,” says Fiona Adams, who resides just mere metres away from the busy road.
According to complaints, illegal racing mostly take place between the early hours of Saturdays and Sundays in most areas.
TygerBurger previously reported illegal street racing was the alleged cause of a car plunging into the Milnerton Lagoon.
Resident Charmaine Warburton says she witnessed the incident through her bedroom window. Warburton, who resides opposite Marine Drive and the lagoon, says this stretch of road is notoriously known for street racing.
Warburton says the car nosedived into the lagoon after being run off the road by two street racers.
“Fortunately, the driver (Jamie) is a fit young man who managed to get himself out of the car and swim about 20 metres to get to safety. I do not know him personally and we only met on the scene, but the poor guy was traumatised. After midnight, cars race down Marine Drive and nothing is being done. There are no speeding cameras on this road. I’ve notified the councillor and the City countless times, but my complaints just fall on deaf ears,” she told TygerBurger.
The ‘road’ ahead
After TygerBurger approached the City of Cape Town for comment, Maxine Bezuidenhout, spokesperson for the City’s traffic service, said they regularly attend to complaints of street racing on the R27 in Table View/Blaauwberg.
“Members of the Ghost Squad attended to the complaint on the R27 on Monday 29 May and again on Wednesday evening 31 May,” she says.
Adams says the presence of the Ghost Squad on this stretch of road is worrisome.
“They know this road is where these drivers prefer to race, but they are never present,” she says after calling the police countless times to inform them of the illegal racing.
Residents also demanded CCTV cameras to have the drivers arrested.
“There are only two speeding cameras on that stretch of road with countless traffic robots. Surely they can put up some CCTV cameras and more speeding cameras,” Adams says.
Milnerton police station commander Brig Dirk Vosloo said at the latest Milnerton Community Policing Forum (CPF) meeting that there is no funding for CCTV cameras.
“Joe Slovo and Dunoon are also high-density areas. The local ward councillor should be approached to request that funding be made available, alternatively, communities rely on private security to assist.”
During one of the Milnerton CPF meetings, the metro police mentioned of their unit’s presence in Phoenix and the apprehension of drunk drivers (37 suspects in Slovo and some in Dunoon).
“During a coordinated parol, about 687 total fines were issued and many hotspots were handled in collaboration with other partners such as the police. It was reported that once a month distribution of pamphlets to educate general members was done.”
