WATCH: One of the blue-light convoys that STILL have Cape Town commuters seeing red
Blue-light convoys with blaring sirens continue to drive VIPs through gridlocked Cape Town traffic‚ despite efforts to curb the phenomenon.
The Western Cape government bucked the trend – which is common in other major cities – by passing legislation restricting the use of blue lights and sirens by government officials. Only the president‚ deputy president and visiting heads of state are exempt from the provincial regulations.
>https://twitter.com/andrejurgens/status/877792569651978240Blue lights can be used if there is an “identified threat to the safety or life of the office bearer‚ or such a threat of damage to the property of the office bearer”.
But police personal protection units can still be requested to drive VIPs around.
TimesLIVE journalist Andre Jurgens filmed a white BMW sedan with tinted windows and discreet window-mounted blue flashing lights being led by an unmarked police escort vehicle down the middle of the two-lane Marine Drive into the city in peak-hour traffic on Wednesday.
Police spokesman Vish Naidoo said the police would not disclose who was being transported. “I’m not at liberty to tell you that. Why should I tell you that? If there was a problem and if there was accountability required then perhaps we can consider telling you‚” said Naidoo.
Police could use blue lights without explaining themselves. “If there has been no traffic infringement‚ just because people have been inconvenienced now South Africans have a right to ask?” said Naidoo.
JP Smith‚ the City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security‚ said the city council was trying to include a mechanism in a new traffic by-law which would prohibit blue light brigades.
“It’s annoying and frustrating for everybody who experiences it every day‚ but sadly it is permitted in terms of the SAPS Act‚” he said.
City of Cape Town law enforcement units still escorted funeral processions and under “extremely rare” conditions visiting sports teams and foreign dignitaries.
Last year the Tshwane metro announced that it planned to withdraw metro police from President Jacob Zuma and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s motorcades.
Community safety mayoral committee member Anniruth Kissoonduth said the measure would save between R20-million and R30-million annually.
Ramaphosa’s blue-light motorcade was involved in a collision on Marine Drive in Table View in 2016.