THE Western Cape MEC of Mobility Daylin Mitchell has remembered traffic cops who died in the line of duty in a wreath-laying ceremony held in Brackenfell on Monday, 10 October.
The department brought families of the fallen cops to the event that formed part of the Transport Month calendar commemorations.
“It is only fitting that the fallen heroes who contributed significantly towards safer transport are remembered and honoured during national Transport Month. These officers heroically passed on in the line of duty. They paid the ultimate price while performing their daily duties to serve and protect our road users in the Western Cape,” said Mitchell.
One of the most outrageous attacks on officials happened in 2020 when a taxi driver ran over a traffic cop who was checking the disk of his taxi. He drove and dragged him under the taxi for about 100 metres.
This year in March, taxi driver Luvo Mlandu (40) was jailed to 25 years in prison for the death of 46-year-old traffic cop Deon Sampson on Spine Road in Khayelitsha in 2020.
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Mlandu also attempted to murder two of Sampson’s colleagues.
Mitchell said despite the great job being done by traffic cops, there are motorists who are hell-bent to break the law.
“We owe our fallen heroes enormous gratitude for the contribution they made in a challenging environment where officers must apply the Rule of Law to ensure a safer road network across the Western Cape. It is unfortunate that too many road users are still losing their lives on our roads due to negligence and a complete disregard to fellow road users. Families lose loved ones such as parents who are breadwinners and children their parents due to these road accidents,” said Mitchell.
