Traffic cop and fire-fighter held for drag racing

A Cape Town traffic officer and a fire-fighter were arrested by their colleagues for illegal street racing.

The City's “ghost squad” was carrying out an operation in one of several drag racing hotspots on Wednesday evening.

One officer spotted a Subaru and a Ford ST “racing along the N7”‚ according to a statement issued by the City on Friday.

“He called for back-up and pursued the vehicles‚ eventually forcing them to stop. Upon interrogating the drivers‚ officers found that one of them was a female traffic officer and the other a city fire-fighter who had another female traffic officer in the passenger seat‚” said mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith.

The two were charged with reckless and negligent driving and participating in an illegal street race.

Smith said disciplinary steps have been instituted with “pre-suspension letters set to be issued today”.

“While I do not want to pre-judge the situation‚ there is no doubt that an incident like this has the potential to cause serious reputational harm to the City‚ but also to jeopardise our enforcement efforts‚" Smith said.

"Illegal street racing is extremely dangerous and one of our many enforcement challenges. It is therefore disappointing that the very people who are supposed to protect the public [instead] make themselves guilty of this type of behaviour.”