The South African city impounding 17 public transport vehicles every day

The City of Cape Town recorded an 80% increase in traffic-related arrests and impounded over 1,500 public transport vehicles over a three-month period from July to September 2026.

City management noted that road safety remains one of the biggest challenges in Cape Town with millions of offences recorded annually.

According to the City’s latest Traffic crash report, a road death is recorded, on average, every 11 hours and 40 minutes.

In response, the metro has ramped up its traffic enforcement, leading to more arrests, fines, and the impounding of more than 100 private vehicles since the amended traffic by-laws were gazetted at the end of July.

“Traffic Services has a dual responsibility – enforcing the rules of the road and effecting and managing road closures during active incidents like motor vehicle accidents, protest action, and events,” the City said in an official statement.

Between July and September, traffic law enforcement:

• Arrested 812 suspects
• Executed 29,710 warrants
• Recorded 1,009,607 offences
• Impounded 1,574 public transport vehicles
• Issued 118,416 fines for traffic-related transgressions
• Impounded 127 vehicles in terms of the amended Traffic By-Law

Of the 812 suspects arrested, 653 were for drunk driving, representing a 321% increase year-on-year.

Another 54 motorists were arrested for reckless and negligent driving, a 50% increase, while the 118,416 traffic fines issued represent a 138% increase.

Over the three-month period, 1,574 public transport vehicles were impounded, equating to roughly 17 vehicles per day.

“These statistics are absolutely staggering, and a timely reminder of what our staff have to contend with daily,” said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

Smith said that the scale of the problem shows that increasing law enforcement efforts is not enough and that more needs to be done to reshape motorists’ attitudes.

“Lawlessness and a lack of accountability lie at the heart of the challenge and while I appreciate the continued calls for more enforcement, the numbers show that staff are acting,” he said.

“We do not have the luxury of limitless resources, and even so, more staff isn’t necessarily a silver bullet. We need to change behaviour and attitudes.”

He argued that many drivers act as if the law does not apply to them and that, while people are quick to scapegoat public transport operators as the bigger problem, all motorists are expected to abide by the rules of the road.

“We cannot treat the law on a sliding scale – rules are rules for a reason and if you’re not abiding by them, then you are part of the problem.”

New vehicle impound laws in Cape Town

Earlier this year, Cape Town published an amended by-law in the Provincial Gazette outlining the provisions for impounding vehicles.

The new laws, which took three years to be implemented, allow the City to impound motor vehicles for various infractions, including:

• Reckless driving
• Illegal street racing
• Driving while under the influence
• Driving without a valid driver’s licence
• Vehicles fitted with false number plates
• Vehicles that do not have the prescribed minimum number plates

The City also clarified that reckless driving refers to driving where “the vehicle is being driven on a public road in a manner that is reckless and poses an immediate or imminent danger to the life of passengers, road users, or pedestrians.”

JP Smith argued that the stricter laws were necessary to deter the worst road offenders, and that traffic fines were not enough.

“In March, April, May, June, and July, we issued between 181,000 and 344,000 fines per month. In August, 206,000 fines were issued. Over the past six months, that comes to 1,386,247 fines, valued at about R960 million,” he said.

“Cape Town has a higher fine payment rate than the rest of the country, but fines alone don’t seem to be changing driver behaviour.”

While the metro has launched recruitment drives to boost the number of traffic enforcement officers, JP Smith said this alone would not solve the problem.

“Your problem is that the criminal justice system is not effectively holding people to account. Fines are issued, but serving warrants on offenders is difficult. Our warrant section does good work every day, tracing people with outstanding warrants who have ignored fines and failed to appear in court.”