The upcoming Speed Classic motorsport event in Cape Town has sparked some backlash, with Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) councillor Pieter Jansen van Vuuren slamming the City’s leadership over what he calls “a callous disregard” for the lives of everyday residents.
The event will transform a stretch of Philip Kgosana Drive into a 1,8 km motorsport track for a two-day festival featuring historic cars, racing cars and supercars, seeing one of the city’s key traffic arteries, Philip Kgosana Drive, closed from Thursday through Monday.
According to data from the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure, the road is used by over 80,000 vehicles daily, carrying nearly 100,000 commuters, Van Vuuren points out.
Van Vuuren says, residents from a vast area, stretching from Simon’s Town, around False Bay, the Cape Flats and even the Winelands, will be affected.
Deeply inconsiderate
Cape Town already suffers from some of the worst traffic congestion in the world, recently ranking seventh globally on the 2024 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard. The decision to close one of the city’s busiest routes for five consecutive days is, according to Jansen van Vuuren, “poorly planned and deeply inconsiderate.”
The FF Plus has clarified that it is not opposed to events that boost local tourism or the economy, but warns that these benefits must be balanced against the basic needs of residents.
“The event could have been held somewhere else, where it would not drastically disrupt the lives of tens of thousands of people who need to travel to their workplaces, homes and elsewhere. There are more than enough alternative and suitable venues near Cape Town,” he adds. “This road and others set to be closed will have their traffic rerouted to alternative routes that are also congested during peak hours.”
The Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, and his administration are completely out of touch with reality and the traffic frustrations that thousands of Capetonians experience daily.
Van Vuuren questions the City’s planning, especially given the historical context saying a similar motorsport event was cancelled in 1962 due to high traffic volumes.
“So, approving it now makes no sense. The Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, and his administration are completely out of touch with reality and the traffic frustrations that thousands of Capetonians experience daily. In addition, the city’s public transport system falls far short – from the MyCiTi bus network to the unreliable Metrorail – it offers commuters no viable alternative. For many people, being late for work is not just an inconvenience, but a daily crisis. Making life even more difficult for them is unacceptable.”
While calls to cancel or relocate the event at this late stage may be unrealistic, the FF Plus is demanding that no similar events be approved in future without a thorough, public impact assessment and community consultation.
The City should put people before prestige. Cape Town residents deserve better. They deserve leadership that demonstrates empathy for their circumstances.rrogance,” Jansen van Vuuren concluded.
City responds
In response to Councillor Van Vuuren’s statement, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, stated that the City’s traffic services have been involved in the event planning from the outset.
“The City will be deploying drones to monitor intersections and possible bottlenecks; traffic will also have pointsmen deployed at intersections during late peak times, to attend to congestion,” he told TygerBurger.
With any such closure, disruptions and congestion are eminent, but the City will manage it as best we can under the circumstances.
“Since August, Speed Classic Cape Town organisers have consulted ward councillors, ratepayers’ associations, businesses, and the CCID. The latest meeting, an online webinar was held last Wednesday with residents from surrounding communities. While we recognise the inconvenience such events may cause, they play a vital role in creating jobs and boosting the local economy,” says Smith.
