Cape Town’s N2 wall ‘will divide, not protect’

Two communities, divided both physically and mentally by a highway that has become a hotspot for attacks on motorists.

On one side of the N2 near Cape Town International Airport, residents of Thabo Mbeki informal settlement say the R114m to be spent on building a wall along the side of the highway would have been better spent on building houses for the community.

On the other side, residents of Winnie Madikizela informal township want the wall, saying it will protect them from criminals who come across the highway to rob them.

“I was robbed at gunpoint by people from Thabo Mbeki,” resident Bukelwa Twalinkosi told the Sunday Times this week.

It was around 11am. I was walking to the mall with my daughter, who was heavily pregnant. Just before the bridge, a man pointed a gun at us and demanded our phones.

“It was around 11am. I was walking to the mall with my daughter, who was heavily pregnant. Just before the bridge, a man pointed a gun at us and demanded our phones,” she said.

In the chaos, her daughter ran towards the highway and narrowly avoided being hit by oncoming traffic.

“Motorists are victims, but so are community members and schoolchildren,” Twalinkosi said.

While the city says the N2 “edge safety” project will make the highway safer for motorists and pedestrians, Thabo Mbeki residents say it risks reinforcing inequality by ignoring the daily dangers faced by the communities living beside the road.

Two weeks ago, Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced that the city had allocated R114m in its adjustment budget for the 9km N2 Edge Safety Project. The intervention, he said, would improve safety for commuters, pedestrians and communities along the busy route.

The project includes:

• new pedestrian crossings;
• improved lighting;
• access control;
• safety barriers for recreational spaces;
• safer grazing practices;
• reduced illegal dumping; and
• further opportunities to engage communities living along the N2.

“This project will make a positive difference to the safety of every motorist along that stretch and reduce pedestrian fatalities,” Hill-Lewis said.

The Thabo Mbeki settlement was established more than 30 years ago and has grown into a dense community of informal structures housing thousands of families. There is barely any space between shacks, limited access roads and little visible infrastructure. Residents complain that they receive far fewer services than neighbouring townships.

When the Sunday Times visited, residents described it as a crime hotspot, particularly for motorists travelling on the N2, a reality they say is rooted in poverty and neglect.

“We were never consulted,” said community leader Nolusanda Dayeni. “This is a crime hotspot because our children are unemployed. There is no school nearby, so they travel more than 5km. Many drop out and end up doing nothing.”

Dayeni said residents were not opposed to safety interventions but questioned the city’s priorities.

“We don’t have a problem with the wall, but we need proper houses. When it rains, people are forced into community halls. We are still using the old bucket system and portable toilets,” she said.

Another resident, Roger Sidzumo, said the project felt designed to benefit motorists rather than the community.

“We don’t even have proper roads here. They will protect the people using the N2, and after that, it will be quiet. We will still suffer,” he said.

Resident Xolile Mpepho recalled the violence that followed the installation of earlier palisade fencing in the area, which has now fallen into disrepair.

“When those palisades were built, there was a lot of shooting between motorists and community members. Yes, some people from here rob motorists, but why can’t the city improve the community first?”

Mpepho pointed to the recent shooting of local councillor Lazola Gungxe, whom he described as deeply committed to the community.

“We were promised houses a long time ago. If not houses, then give us land so we can build our own,” he said.

The city insists the wall is part of a broader safety strategy. Councillor Rob Quintas, mayoral committee member for urban mobility, said consultations with affected communities and stakeholders would take place in the coming months as part of the project’s detailed planning phase.

Mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said the barriers would reduce pedestrian fatalities, prevent accidents involving stray animals and limit opportunities for criminals to target motorists.

Opposition voices remain unconvinced. GOOD party councillor Chad Davids said the wall symbolised misplaced priorities.

“A wall does not stop crime. It does not create jobs or build communities. Yet the city cannot find the same urgency to fund housing, clinics, fire stations, road upgrades or youth development.

“When government builds walls instead of building people, it has already surrendered to failure,” Davids said, adding that residents were effectively paying twice, through municipal safety budgets and national taxes, for outcomes that remain elusive.