Controversy over City of Cape Town’s R114m N2 Edge safety project

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis speaks in council as the City allocates R114m to the N2 Edge safety project, drawing mixed reactions from opposition parties. The City of Cape Town has set aside R114 million in its adjustment budget for the N2 Edge safety project, aimed at improving safety for motorists, pedestrians and communities along a 9km stretch of the highway. The allocation has drawn sharp debate in council over priorities, delivery and effectiveness.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the funding would go towards replacing and reinforcing a severely deteriorated security barrier along the N2, alongside a package of safety and community-focused interventions. “Today our adjustment budget commits R114m to the N2 Edge project, which will make a positive difference to the safety of every motorist along that stretch, and reduce pedestrian fatalities,” Hill-Lewis said. According to the City, the project will include new pedestrian crossings, improved lighting and access control, safety barriers for recreational spaces, measures to improve grazing practices, reduced scope for illegal dumping, and the stabilisation and landscaping of the road embankment.

Hill-Lewis told council the existing barrier was “completely dilapidated” and said it was unfair that “hundreds of thousands of daily users of the N2” were exposed to attacks by “a small number of criminal elements”. The renewed focus on the N2 follows a series of violent incidents that have kept safety on the corridor in the spotlight. It was ignited following the murder of Nelspruit grandmother, Karin van Aardt who was killed during a smash and grab incident near Jakes Gerwel Drive in December.

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Ndiyabulela Vayi, Thando Nkolongo and Yamnkela Mdunyelwa are facing charges of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances for van Aardt’s murder. Following van Aardt’s murder, the city said it was planning for a security wall along the N2 around the airport to be erected, at a significant cost estimated at around R180m.

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