Cape Town’s ‘most wanted’ traffic offender has been arrested.
The City of Cape Town announced earlier this year it would do its utmost to hunt down its 100 worst offenders, and soon established that number one on the list was a vehicle owner who had since died.
On Thursday officers closed in on the new number one, Sibusiso Funiselo, a Cape Town taxi owner.
Cape Town traffic’s licensing and prosecutions department had information that Funiselo had eight double outstanding warrants of arrest and a further 49 single warrants of arrest, issued by four different courts across the metro.
Funiselo owned more than half a dozen taxis and his drivers had amassed fines worth R111 300 for a wide range of traffic and licensing violations.
Officers made contact with Funiselo by telephone on Thursday and tracked him down to the traffic court at the City Hall, where they arrested him.
He is due to first appear at Wynberg Magistrate’s Court and then be transferred to Goodwood, Parow and Cape Town courts, where the full string of charges against him will be dealt with.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said he welcomed the arrest.
“The public complain bitterly about the conduct of taxi drivers and this person has demonstrated absolute contempt for his fellow road users, the traffic authorities and the courts,” Smith alleged.
“We have been negotiating with Funiselo for some time and he has had several opportunities to sort out his outstanding warrants. “When we tried to track him down, he claimed he was in the Eastern Cape. One of the officers then called him in an excited tone of voice saying she needs to speak to him urgently and needed urgent help.
“He then said that she must come to the Town Hall where he was. Thereafter, he must have realised who had called him, then called back to say that he was not available and that he would contact them the next day - but they had already raced off to catch him,” Smith explained.
In August, another Cape Town taxi driver was sentenced to more than a year in prison for failing to settle at least 53 outstanding arrest warrants for unpaid fines. Cape Argus