The City of Cape Town is coughing up R180m for a security wall along the N2 outside the airport in a bid to stem deadly attacks on the notorious stretch of road.
Last week retired Mpumalanga teacher Karin van Aardt was killed when she and her husband were attacked at an intersection after leaving the airport. The couple were in Cape Town for their granddaughter’s eighth birthday party.
The city has for some time been calling for the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) to build the wall, but this week Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the city would go ahead with constructing it.
“The N2 is a national road, and Sanral and the provincial government are responsible for its upkeep, [which involves attending to] footbridges, fencing, median maintenance, and so on,” he said.
“That said, the city is planning for a security wall along the N2 around the airport to be erected. The estimated cost is R180m, but the city is committed to ensuring that is done, notwithstanding the significant costs.
“The city is currently preparing its capital budget for the next [medium-term revenue and expenditure framework]. More details on timelines will be available [at] the time of the budget’s tabling in March.”
The crime hasn’t been sorted and has got worse since my incident.
— Lucille Vlok, smash-and-grab attack victim
In October, the city deployed 40 metro police officers to patrol the N2 around the airport and Borcherds Quarry precincts.
Van Aardt and her 69-year-old husband, Herman, were leaving the airport at about 7pm on Friday last week when they were attacked on the corner of Jakes Gerwel Drive and Jakkalsvlei Avenue.
The family’s spokesperson, Rev Uli Trümpelmann, who is married to Van Aardt’s sister, told the Sunday Times she had been stabbed several times.
“There were several wounds, but they believe one deep one was fatal. The hospital staff tried everything,” he said.
Herman later told him he had stopped at a red light when some men ran across the road and surrounded the car.
“One smashed the window on Karin’s side. He tried to grab her handbag, but she held on. He stabbed her,” Trümpelmann said.
Herman managed to drive away but saw his wife was bleeding heavily. At the next traffic light, he jumped out to ask for help from another motorist, who guided him to the nearest hospital.
“When they arrived, the doctor told him she had no heartbeat and [the medics in attendance] couldn’t resuscitate her,” Trümpelmann said.
He said the family did not hate the attackers.
“We are committed Christians. We grieve, but we don’t dwell on the men who took her life. Nothing will bring her back. What we hope is that proper preventative measures will finally follow.”
The couple were en route to Vredenburg to visit their son, where they were due to celebrate their granddaughter’s eighth birthday.
Van Aardt will be buried in Nelspruit on Thursday.
The city said three suspects had been arrested and would appear in the Bishop Lavis magistrate’s court tomorrow.
Trümpelmann said he was on the phone with Herman when the doctor delivered the “sad news”.
“When they landed, Karin phoned my wife to say they were waiting for the rental car. That was their last conversation,” he said. “This can’t be real. She and my wife were very close.”
He described Van Aardt as gentle and devoted to teaching, family and animals.
The couple retired to Nelspruit after she left her primary school teaching post in Bloemfontein in 2018.
Lucille Vlok, 24, who survived a similar attack in 2023, said the news had reactivated her trauma.
“I still get nervous driving on the N2,” she said.
She was attacked at the airport interchange. She believes Van Aardt and her husband were probably following Google Maps and, like many visitors, would not have known which routes to avoid.
“[Hearing about the attack] made me angry and sad. The crime hasn’t been sorted and has got worse since my incident,” she said. “It’s bad for tourism. It might deter people from coming.”
Her attacker was never caught.
“My scars healed, but my jaw never fully recovered. I wear a retainer daily.”
Police said smash-and-grab incidents were a disturbing phenomenon, and that law enforcement agencies needed to make a concerted effort to stop them.
“Communities located in close proximity to identified smash-and-grab hotspots are also mobilised as part of efforts to address this type of crime, spokesperson Brig Novela Potelwa said.
“As part of the safer festive season operational plan, there are integrated targeted deployments (static and mobile) focusing on the smash-and-grab hotspots. Often, as … with other types of crime, with [an] intensified law enforcement presence, crime gets displaced elsewhere.
“Along the N2 route from the airport (depending on the direction of the motorist), there are a number of crime hotspots — such as Borcherds Quarry, Jakes Gerwel and Mew Way — which are addressed through operational interventions [made by] the SAPS, City of Cape Town law enforcement officials, security companies, and community patrols. The CCTV camera network along the routes also augments the operational response.”
Potelwa advised motorists to:
- Be vigilant at all times and take note of individuals approaching vehicles;
- Avoid becoming distracted through, for example, using their cellphones;
- Conceal or lock away valuable;
- Refrain from stopping unnecessarily;
- Ensure their car is mechanically sound and has enough fuel for the trip;
- Keep vehicle doors locked at all times; and
- Desist from asking strangers for help or directions.
Freedom Front Plus leader Dr Corné Mulder said his party had warned just three weeks ago about escalating violence on the roads around the airport. He said the party urged the city, the province, Sanral and the police to work together on urgent interventions — such as repairing freeway fencing, restoring CCTV cameras, and deploying permanent armed patrols at high-risk spots such as the one where Van Aardt was killed.
JP Smith, member of the municipal council for safety and security, said that between July and November 2025 the highway patrol unit responded to 530 crashes and 3,212 breakdowns.
“One of the biggest challenges is that not all incidents are reported to the SAPS, so it is virtually impossible to determine the true extent of public safety challenges,” he said. “Since the October deployment, officers have assisted 64 members of the public, effected eight arrests, issued 1,554 fines, and impounded 15 vehicles.”
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