A community activist is demanding the City of Cape Town to fix the robots at the Military Road and Prince George Drive intersection after an increase in smash and grab and other robbery incidents.
Lucinda Evans of Lavender Hill says the stop has become a hotspot for crime and skollies have been targeting women.
Several robots have been on the blink for about a month, following service delivery protests by residents from Vrygrond.
They include traffic lights at the Oudevlei Road, Vrygrond Avenue, Capricorn Boulevard and Prince George Drive intersections.
HOTSPOT: Smash and grab incidents have increased.
But DA chairperson for Ward 64, Francis Lombard, says the robots won’t be fixed until the protests stop.
“The City has put up stop signs and the affected intersections are now 4-way stops until the point where stability has been restored and the City staff can repair the robots without safety concerns,” he says.
“We are in a catch-22 (situation); if they get repaired, they get vandalised by a very small group of individuals and not the broader community.
“To repair them just to have them broken within hours is an abuse of resources that are scarce in our budget.
“The day they were last vandalised, I was in Vrygrond. There was no mass riot or protest, but the police sat at the robot intersection (and) watched (five) people roll tyres out, watched them pour fuel on them and then watched them set them alight.”
But an angry Evans says the protests cannot be used as an excuse not to deliver services to law-abiding citizens: “I am demanding that these traffic lights are fixed and people who know who these perpetrators are need to step forward.”
VOLATILE: Hike in smash and grab incidents at Military Road and Prince George Drive robots. Pictures: supplied
A female motorist said last week she had a close call on Military Road while being stuck in traffic.
“I saw this group of about eight guys coming across the road from Lavender Hill, running between the cars and I immediately checked if my vehicle was locked,” she says.
“They were walking through the cars as if they were checking it out. They then each took out a hammer while two had knives. I could see their eyes shifted straight to me.
“I was boxed in and I just drove over the island as I saw the guy was going to smash my back window with a hammer.
“I nearly drove into another car, but I had to get away.”