STOP THESE ‘PADVARKE’ - Crime fighters MUST draw a line in the sand against Kaapse public road skollies

THE running joke in December was always that traffic cops needed to make their target and therefore they are the paaie vol during the festive season.

I was told that that’s not the case and that the obvious reason for the increase in fines is the increased visibility during this period. 

Make with that what you want. 

What I do know is that just the other day the Western Cape government launched its festive season safety plan on our roads, deploying more than 600 provincial officers and over 300 vehicles to help manage holiday traffic across the province.

Mobility MEC Isaac Sileku haaked af: “One life lost is one too many. We enter this festive season with an unwavering determination to ensure that everyone is safe on our roads. Road safety is up to all of us, so please follow the rules of the road and take frequent breaks…” 

Wonderful and all, but here’s the thing: these “speed cops” are no longer just that. They are no longer just the boys in blue that have to monitor traffic, check for drunk drivers and make sure people drive safely. 

Their jobs have become far more than that and have even become dangerous - if done correctly, at least in my books.  

I view these traffic officers as traffic police. And that means TAKING CARE of the SAFETY of road users. POLICING our public roads. 

One of the stories from this past weekend that hit me square in the gut was the passing of Karin van Aardt. 

For those who don’t know, she was the 64-year-old retired teacher who was stabbed to death IN HER CAR while on her way to see her grandchild. 

Here we had a woman who flew all the way from Mpumalanga to make it in time for her granddaughter’s eighth birthday in Vredenburg. 

Her brother-in-law was quoted as telling the Lowvelder: “She [dis nou Karin] said at 5.45pm that they had landed safely [in Cape Town], but at 7pm [her husband] Herman said we had to pray, there was trouble…” 

How quickly life can be screwed up by an idiot trying to make a quick buck.

The story goes that Karin and her husband left Cape Town International for Vredenburg in a rental car and on the corner of Jakkalsvlei Avenue and Jakes Gerwel Drive, a killer broke the window on Karin’s side in the car and started stabbing the ouma while trying to steal her belongings. 

Her hubby then tried his best to get her to hospital, but she succumbed to her wounds. 

No man ouens, think of your own mense. Think of your own ouma and mom before you do things like this. 

Is that how you want their lives to be ended? And for what? A handsak with a few rand?

Anyway, those are the sort of things traffic police, in conjunction with the South African Police Service and all the other crime fighters MUST police - not only during the festive season, but throughout the year. 

It’s crazy season and mense are taking it up a notch on our roads. 

Another example on the weekend was that taxi driver’s attack on the couple in Kuils River. 

When I saw the video, I thought what the hell? Are we really so Godless that, even if we fail to destroy someone’s possessions the first time, we walk around to the other side to try and do it there?  

So desperate to do harm? 

For those who missed it, the Daily Voice reported: “Sedick Adams, 27, his wife and six-month-old daughter were attacked by a Mfuleni taxi driver, who is yet to be arrested, according to police.

“Video footage of the incident shows the taxi driver angrily trying to open the passenger door and kicking the door where Sedick’s wife was sitting and recording. The taxi driver then goes around to the driver door where he smashed the window.” 

Last month the paper also reported 11 smash-and-grabs on Jake Gerwel Drive in ONE DAY. 

Most of the incidents took place between 6am and 7am - when mense were on their way to work so that they can provide for their families. 

Anyway, back to our traffic police officers, as I will call them from now on. It’s pointless having the hele cops and the hele cars on the road, but they are far from the hotspots or just turning a blind eye. 

Having said all this, these guys are heroes in having chosen to work to save our lives. So as good citizens, let’s give them all the support they need, let’s report things when we see they are not looking lekker, let’s call them up when we can sense trouble in the air and let’s give them leads when we know who these mense spoiling ander mense’s festive seasons are. 

Cape Town, let’s be lekker. Let’s return to being a place vol smiles en grappe. 

Most importantly, let's pray for our law enforcement officials - all of them - doing their best to keep us safe this December. 

Be lekker and be safe. Be kind on the roads, help where you can - that’s how we can do our bit to ensure Cape Town’s smiling again.

Duds just the way it is…