Cape Town to spend R115m on wall to protect motorists on N2 ‘hell run’

It’s official: the City of Cape Town has allocated R115-million towards the N2 safety project, including for a security wall, following attacks on motorists.

On Thursday, 29 January, during a virtual council sitting, the city’s adjustment budget, which includes this allocation, was adopted.

Local commuters and tourists have been attacked on a portion of the highway near the airport that has become known as the “hell run”. In some cases, GPS directions have led motorists astray and into the hands of attackers armed with stones and firearms.

Read more: City of Cape Town faces community backlash over proposed R180m wall on N2 ‘Hell Run’

Last year, when the city announced its plans for the wall, they were criticised for a lack of community consultation, shielding tourists from the poverty experienced by communities living next to the highway and failing to address the root causes of crime.

On Thursday, during his council speech, Cape Town’s mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, said the budget of the city’s Urban Mobility Department had been increased by R7-million for the design of the N2 Edge project. A further R108-million would be allocated in the 2027 financial year “to cover the bulk of the construction in that year”.

The security barrier would make a “significant positive difference” to every motorist along the stretch and would reduce pedestrian fatalities, said Hill-Lewis.

The existing security wall along the stretch of highway in question was “just completely dilapidated, and there is nearly nothing left of it”, the mayor told the council. It needed to be replaced, he said, but did not provide details of the new wall’s dimensions, nor what it would be made of.

He said it wasn’t fair to the thousands of commuters who use that stretch of the N2 to be “subject to the attacks of a small number of criminal elements on their commute to work and back. Many of them feel unsafe on that road. And that is not fair to them. It is their safety that I care deeply about.

“We will not just be building a safety barrier. We will also be fixing the road embankment along the N2 to actually make it better and more dignified for the communities along that stretch of road.”

Plans include the addition of new pedestrian crossings, enhanced lighting and access control measures, along with the landscaping of embankments and addressing fire and flood safety considerations.

Secondary interventions include installing safety barriers for designated recreational areas in nearby communities, promoting safer grazing and urban agriculture practices, minimising illegal dumping and exploring other opportunities that will emerge from upcoming engagements with communities along the N2.

“We envisage that, beyond the immediate benefits of crime reduction, pedestrian safety and better control over the movement of livestock, the N2 Edge project will also significantly improve the overall public space,” said the mayor.

“This project is an important part of our broader plan to improve safety along the N2 in the vicinity of the airport.”

This is not the city’s first attempt to reduce attacks on that stretch of highway. In October 2025, the city deployed 45 metro police officers to patrol the “hell run”.

In addition, CCTV cameras with sophisticated automatic number plate recognition were installed there.

This investment, the mayor said, “is paying off in a big way”.

Years of letters

Hill-Lewis said that since he became mayor in 2021, the city had, on numerous occasions, written to the South African National Roads Agency about the need for greater security on the highway.

“Alderman [JP] Smith tells me that before I arrived in the city, he had been writing those letters for many years prior to that, begging them to take action for increased security on the highway, and without any luck,” said the mayor.

Hill-Lewis said everyone in the council was familiar with the limited time spans of political office. “So we must make every day count. I’m not prepared to sit around for four or five years writing letters, asking for someone to do something, knowing that they’re not likely to do it.

“If I’ve got a limited time to make a difference for the public, I’m going to use that time effectively. I have, frankly, finished writing letters. We’re now just going to do it.”

However, not all in the council were enthusiastic about the plan.

Good party councillor Chad Davids said: “We are told R180-million must be found for a wall along the N2. A wall that does not stop crime. A wall that does not create jobs. A wall that does not build communities. A wall that does not reduce gangsterism.

“Somehow, this city cannot find equivalent urgency or funding for housing, clinics, fire stations, road upgrades and, amongst others, youth development.” DM