Payday weekend sees ‘problematic behaviour’ spike in Cape Town

Payday weekend saw an increase in assaults, car accidents and arrests for drunk driving across Cape Town.

The city’s public emergency response center recorded 1,631 incidents over the weekend. Most of the calls were for medical help or for violations of the bylaws. However, there were:

• 130 incidents of personal injury, compared to 84 the previous weekend;
• 49 motor vehicle accidents (compared to 34 the previous weekend); and
• 23 pedestrian accidents, compared to seven the previous weekend.

“The ‘payday weekend’ phenomenon is not new and it is every person’s right to have their accidents reported to let hair out after a long week or month of work. The concern is that in too many cases, indulgence leads to bad decisions that end up hurting a person or someone else,” MMC Safety and Security’s JP Smith said Monday.

“For years we’ve emphasized the link between alcohol and public safety and the consequences, so it’s really disappointing to see the continued increase in public safety incidents whenever these payday weekends roll around.

” The trend was even clearer on an evening with our law enforcement services this weekend, when more than two dozen motorists were arrested for drunk driving and nearly a dozen others for reckless and careless driving – during just one operation.

” I can’t understand how many of our road users still think this kind of behavior is okay. It is not. Your actions could land someone in the hospital – or worse, the morgue – and put you behind bars for a very long time.”

For the week of June 20-26:

• The city’s Transportation Department made 51 arrests for drinking and driving and 16 for reckless and negligent driving;
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  • Officials impounded 174 transit vehicles and executed 1,294 warrants for outstanding fines and subpoenas;
  • 36,356 speeding violations were registered and 28,939 fines were issued for various traffic violations;

  < Subway police officers arrested seven motorists for driving under the influence (of a total of 161 arrests in this week) and issued 2,951 fines for traffic and law violations; and

  • Law enforcement officials made 80 arrests and issued 3,333 orders.

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