The City’s Traffic Service crushes vehicles, which are left abandoned by the owners, at its impound facilities annually. The crushing of vehicles assists Traffic Service to ease the administrative load. Impound facilities have limited space available and the crushing allows for more parking space for impounded vehicles.
In terms of Regulation 320 of the National Road Traffic Act, the City’s Traffic Service can dispose of vehicles left abandoned at its impound lots for longer than 21 days.
Vehicles can also be sold on auction.
However, vehicles that are not roadworthy, are disposed of by a service provider, and are crushed and compacted.
Recently, the City’s Traffic Service crushed 73 vehicles.
‘We have seen an increase in the number of vehicles impounded for various transgressions in recent months. This includes public transport vehicles, where the driver or owner is not able to produce a valid operating permit. As a result, our pounds at Maitland and Ndabeni are constantly faced with capacity challenges. The inability or refusal to pay impoundment fees often result in unroadworthy vehicles being abandoned. Also, in some instances, the owners or drivers are habitual offenders who have a history of fines, many of them unpaid. So the crushing is a last resort, but much needed to free up space in our pounds,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
Source: City Of Cape Town