Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia says he does not believe that the controversial N2 wall proposed to be built in Cape Town will stop crime.
This was revealed after a parliamentary question was submitted by Build One South Africa (Bosa) to the minister.
The parliamentary reply, which this publication has seen, declares that the police do not believe the N2 safety project will provide a substitute for sustained visible policing or enhanced investigative capacity.
“While the construction of a highway wall/barrier along the N2 may contribute to situational crime prevention by restricting pedestrian access to the roadway and potentially reducing certain opportunistic crimes directed at motorists, infrastructure interventions cannot replace core policing functions.”
Cachalia added that his department was doing its best to address safety concerns that impact nearby residents and road users.
“SAPS continues to implement sustained operational measures, including high visibility patrols, intelligence-led operations, targeted deployments of specialised units where threat assessments require collaboration with municipal law enforcement agencies, and focused investigative efforts aimed at securing arrests and successful prosecutions.”
The minister said government would take an integrated approach to clamp down on crime.
Bosa spokesperson Roger Solomons said the minister directly contradicted the City of Cape Town’s justification for the wall.
“The minister makes it clear that the SAPS has not determined that the N2 safety project is an effective substitute for sustained visible policing or enhanced investigative capacity, emphasising that infrastructure interventions ‘cannot replace core policing functions’.”
Solomons said the minister provided confirmation that a wall will not address organised criminal activity, firearm-related offences, gang violence or broader public order challenges affecting surrounding communities.
“This stands in stark contrast to repeated public commitments by the mayor of Cape Town that the N2 wall will help stop crime along the corridor. The minister has effectively punctured the City of Cape Town’s justification for spending R120m on a wall along the N2.”
Solomons said his party believed this contradiction exposed the fundamental problem with the project.
“Bosa has long held that this wall is more a cosmetic intervention than a crime-fighting strategy. If the country’s own police minister acknowledges that a wall will not stop the most serious forms of crime affecting nearby communities, then the city must explain why it continues to present this project as a meaningful safety solution.”
Solomons said the project mirrored the thinking of apartheid spatial planning by separating communities and shielding inequality from those passing by.
“A R120m barrier along the highway used by thousands of people travelling between the airport and the city each day risks echoing the spatial logic of the past. Symbolically, it will use infrastructure to divide communities and keep poverty out of sight.
“Crime cannot be walled away, and South Africa cannot build barriers high enough to hide the reality of poverty and inequality. Real safety will come from effective policing, intelligence-led operations, proper investigative capacity, and meaningful investment in communities. Bosa believes that concrete walls act as a temporary measure to obscure deeper problems.”
The party said it would continue to champion the fight against the construction of the wall.
“Bosa will continue to oppose the building of this wall, and instead advocate for the R100m-plus budget to be directed towards real crime-fighting measures in areas which need it the most.”
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