Western Cape's Department of Mobility to employ a permanent traffic chief at the end of April

CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to Isaac Sileku, Western Cape MEC for Mobility.

The Western Cape has been without a full-time traffic chief since August 2020, when its former traffic chief, Kenny Africa, retired. To date, a permanent traffic chief has not been appointed.

Farrol Payne was appointed as the new traffic chief, however, Payne "has been in and out of court for cases of alleged sexual assault against him," notes Kiewit. 

"On the 31 December, Mr. Payne left the Western Cape government," explains Sileku. 

Sileku adds that after the lockdown, departments were restructured —the traffic department became mobility in 2023, followed by a recruitment drive in 2024. 

However, Sileku explains that the recruitment drive happened before his start as the Western Cape MEC for Mobility. 

"When I came in, the process was already concluded," says Sileku.

Sileku says that as the new Minister for Mobility, he wanted to be "part and parcel of the process," so the role was re-advertised. 

"I said I would like to re-advertise, and that's what we agreed on," says Sileku. 

The process for a new traffic chief is currently underway.

"I wanted to be sure that we employed a competent person... then, the particular role was re-advertised and ended on the 3 March 2025," explains Sileku.

"I'm very excited that we are going to be going through a process of shortlisting and probably by the end of April we are able to fill that vacuum by finding a competent and fit-for-purpose person that can actually run our traffic in the Western Cape Province," adds Sileku.

The criteria for the next traffic chief is someone who:

• is fit-for-purpose.
• can take the department to the next level.
• can do better than the former provincial traffic chief.
• ensure that everyone is informed about road issues.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.