Controversial wall splits Cape Town in two

Cape Town’s plan to build a security wall along the N2 to safeguard motorists has split the city’s residents into ‘for’ and ‘against’ camps.

This wall has been promoted as a way to protect motorists from smash-and-grab incidents and stone-throwing attacks on the N2 highways.

This stretch of road is widely known as the ‘Hell Run’ due to the dangers which have claimed many lives and ruined numerous others.

To address these dangers and reduce pedestrian fatalities, Cape Town has launched the N2 Edge project.

Cape Town’s executive mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, shared the latest information about the project during his council speech on 29 January 2026.

He explained that it is a security barrier that will be constructed along a 9-kilometre stretch of the N2 highway.

“The N2 already has a security barrier, it is just completely dilapidated, and there is nearly nothing left of it. It needs to be replaced,” he said.

He added that it is not fair to the hundreds of thousands of daily N2 users that they must be subjected to attacks by a small number of criminals.

“There is nothing that we will not do to improve the safety of Capetonians. We will investigate crime, train more officers, and invest in technology,” he said.

The project goes beyond a safety barrier and includes fixing the road embankment, adding pedestrian crossings, and improving lighting and access control.

The money will also be spent on landscaping of the embankments and all necessary fire and flood considerations.

To fund the project, Cape Town’s Urban Mobility budget will be increased by R7 million this year for detailed design. A further R108 million will be budgeted for the 2027 financial year to cover the bulk of the construction.

Mixed views about the wall along the N2

There has been fierce opposition to the N2 Edge Safety Project from political parties, human rights organisations, and community activists.

One of the vocal opponents to the wall is the ANC’s Cape Town Caucus Leader, Ndithini Tyhido, who dubbed it the “South African Berlin Wall”.

He argued that the project is designed to hide poverty from tourists travelling from the Cape Town International Airport.

The ANC suggested investing the money in community-based crime prevention, such as increasing stipends for neighbourhood watch groups.

South African Human Rights Commission Commissioner Chris Nissen said that the money is deeply misplaced.

Nissen argued the funds should go toward proper housing, education, and building bridges between communities like Nyanga and Crossroads rather than barriers.

GOOD Party’s Siyabulela Mamkeli and Chad Davids called the project morally confused and governance by press conference.

They argued that the city is shifting the blame for policing failures onto infrastructure and called for more intelligence-led policing.

Movement For Care’s Nkosikhona Swaartbooi argued that the wall reinforces apartheid-era spatial planning. He added that communities in Gugulethu and Khayelitsha feel excluded from the decision-making process.

There were also many supporters of the projects, including daily commuters from areas like Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Blue Downs, and the Helderberg.

Many drivers who use the N2 express that they feel like sitting ducks for smash-and-grabs and stone-throwing.

Residents also welcomed the safety barriers for local soccer pitches and designated grazing areas, which would help separate community life from the high-speed traffic.

The Freedom Front Plus welcomed the plan as a means to ensure safety, saying it was a necessary response to a problem that had persisted for years.

Geordin Hill-Lewis dismissed the detractors, saying, “If you want to campaign against a safer Cape Town, be my guest.”