Payday weekend saw a spike in road accidents involving pedestrians and cases of assault attended to by the public emergency communication centre in Cape Town.
The city responded to 2,035 incidents, including:
- 97 fires;
- 715 medical calls, of which 161 were cases of assault and 67 related to domestic violence;
- 232 noise complaints;
- 29 shooting incidents;
- 40 motor vehicle accidents; and
- 28 accidents involving pedestrians.
Over the previous weekend there were 1,871 incidents, including 91 cases of assault, 44 of domestic violence and nine pedestrian vehicle accidents.
“The difference is that one weekend happened before payday, and the other after. We’ve highlighted this time and again, as well as the common denominator which in many instances is alcohol,” said safety and security MMC JP Smith.
“This weekend, as I did my rounds, joint operations were taking place in many of our suburbs involving city agencies, SAPS and our neighbourhood watches. We can’t do any of this without our emergency services, and that first line of contact, which is our emergency call takers. And while we all remain committed to public safety, it is actually very sad to see the amount of resources we have to devote to reduce the harm associated with poor choices.”
The city said traffic officers arrested 72 suspects:
- 56 for drunk driving (up from the previous week’s 16);
- three for reckless and negligent driving; and
- 13 for other transgressions.
They also recorded 55,736 offences, impounded 308 public transport vehicles and executed 995 warrants of arrest.
The metro police department made 80 arrests, including 26 for drunk driving and 39 for the illegal possession of drugs. They also recovered various quantities of drugs, two firearms and an imitation firearm.
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.