Cape Town - Service delivery protests have left Cape Town ratepayers with a R14 million bill – the cost of damage caused over the past three months.
The city’s safety and security executive director Richard Bosman outlined the impact and costs of the protests on Thursday. He was briefing the city’s safety and security portfolio committee.
The city also plans to share its model on responding to the protests with other municipalities in the province.
Bosman said there was the possibility of more protests in the run-up to the 2014 elections.
At the height of the protests, city officials met every day. Early warning systems informed officers of protests before they broke out, and there were constant patrols along freeways including the N1, N7 and N2.
Metro police, traffic and law enforcement officer patrols increased during hot spot times, which were identified as Monday and Friday mornings.
Off-duty staff were roped in and overtime costs climbed to more than R1m.
Staff had to act soon to ensure damaged services were repaired quickly.
Bosman said Golden Arrow Bus Services staff were among the city’s most important allies.
“They had conductors on the road from about four in the morning, and became important in our early warning system.”
The R14m bill is for:
- Repairing roads, which cost R6m.
- Fixing traffic signals, which cost R4.5m.
- Overtime for staff, which came in at R1.5m.
- Fixing portable toilets, which cost R1.5m. Cleaning services added R500,000 to the bill.
A video was played showing protesters destroying a new traffic signal set up on Duinefontein Road in July. The signals were still covered with tape and were only set to start operating the following day.
In about five minutes, just after 3am, the entire set of signals was destroyed. Bosman said it had cost R1m to put up and was in response to a high number of car accidents at that intersection.
Bosman said the key to dealing with the protests was managing and meeting on the incidents and plans daily.
It was critical to have immediate responses, where officers received tip-offs of possible protests.
Bosman said the protests had died down recently, but added that the city might get more involved in the police’s operations around the current transport strike.
Bosman stressed the importance of regular maintenance and repairs.
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