Picture: R120m wall built along N2 in Cape Town
By REGINALD KANYANE
9 March 2026- Build One South Africa (BOSA) said the acting Minister of Police, Prof Firoz Cachalia does not believe that the proposed wall along the N2 highway in Cape Town will stop crime. BOSA said Cachalia has directly contradicted the City of Cape Town’s justification for spending R120 million on a wall along the N2 corridor.
BOSA leader, Mmusi Maimane said in a written reply to BOSA’s parliamentary question, Cachalia makes it clear that the South African Police Service (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.” Maimane said Cachalia further confirms 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 R120 million on a wall along the N2.
“This contradiction exposes 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,” he said.
Maimane added that 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. He said symbolically, it will use infrastructure to divide communities and keep poverty out of sight.
“For many residents, the project mirrors the thinking of apartheid spatial planning. Separate communities and shield inequality from those passing by. 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,” said Maimane.
He said BOSA will continue to oppose the building of this wall, and instead advocate for the R100 million plus budget to be directed towards real crime fighting measures in areas which need it the most.
The Guardian 