SA makes the top 10 – in traffic

The news that Cape Town has some of the worst traffic in world has spread across South Africa and citizens are not surprised.

Cape Town already had a reputation for heavy congestion particularly going into the city. Now, the 2024 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard concurs listing Cape Town as the seventh most congested city.

The scorecard says that citizens lost an average of 94 hours of time in traffic in 2024. The CEO of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, says: “The situation is not much better for the rest of the country. Residents in Johannesburg and Pretoria lose 55 and 45 hours respectively. Durban (35 hours) and Pietermaritzburg (33 hours) complete South Africa’s top five cities with the worst traffic.

“Hours spent in traffic increased in Cape Town by 11 hours despite the City’s R444 million plan to reduce traffic congestion between 2024 and 2027. As we enter 2025 and employees return from year end breaks and schools and universities start again, many drivers may notice the drastic change to congestion, even on suburban roads.”

Additionally, as more organisations abandon hybrid working models, it will likely only worsen or at least not see improvement anytime soon. “As a result, drivers should prepare themselves for this shift and be ready to handle gridlocked roads irrespective of what the future holds for the traffic situation in South Africa,” says Herbert.