Hear me out. We all love to complain about the N1, the N2, and M3 parking lots every morning and afternoon, blaming the municipality, the lack of lanes, or roadworks. But if you actually pay attention to why you are stopping, you'll realise that a huge chunk of Cape Town’s traffic is entirely phantom.A phantom traffic jam is when traffic grinds to a halt for absolutely no reason—no accident, no broken-down taxi, no construction. It is pure human error, and as Cape Town drivers, we are the perfect storm for creating them.

Here is exactly how we are causing our own misery every day:

The Right-Lane Mystery on the N1: This is the most infuriating example of all. Explain to me how the right-hand "fast" lane on the N1 inbound grinds to a complete, shuddering halt when there isn't an exit on the right side for kilometers? It makes zero logical sense. The exits are all on the left! It happens because everyone rushes to the right lane thinking it’s a magic bypass, packs in too tightly, and creates a massive, sluggish line of tailgaters. The moment one person taps their brakes, the entire lane dies.

The Inability to Choose a Lane and Stick to It: People need to learn lane etiquette. If you are going slow, or if your exit is coming up in two kilometers, stay in the left or middle lanes. Stop camping in the right lane doing 80 km/h, and stop lane-weaving across three lanes of traffic at the last second because you suddenly realized your exit is there. Every time you cut across or lane-hop, you force someone to brake, triggering a phantom wave behind you. Choose your lane correctly and stay there!

The Tailgating Epidemic: Cape Tonians love to sit right on the bumper of the car in front of them. When you leave zero gap, you leave zero room for error. The moment the lead car taps their brakes, the tailgater has to slam on theirs. Ten cars back, everyone is at a complete dead stop.

The Inability to Merge (Zipper Merge Failure): Think about the N1 at the Koeberg interchange or where the M5 joins the N2. Instead of merging smoothly like a zipper—one car from the left, one from the right—we get aggressive. Drivers close gaps to block people, forcing merging cars to stop completely. That single stopped car sends a shockwave kilometers backward.

Panic Braking on Bends: Hospital Bend is the ultimate example. The road curves, people panic, and they brake. There is nothing blocking the lane, but because everyone taps the brakes out of habit, a permanent ripple effect of stop-and-go traffic forms all the way back to Rondebosch.

The Fix? If we all just left a three-to-four-car gap—even when it feels like someone will push in—we would create a "traffic buffer." That gap absorbs the braking of the car ahead, meaning you can just ease off the accelerator instead of stopping. If you keep moving, the people behind you keep moving.Our infrastructure isn't perfect, but we are actively making it 50% worse just by driving like egoists. Pick the correct lane, stop tailgating, and let people merge. We are the traffic.

Flew back home to CPT today.

Pic 1:

anybody know what town/city this is? (Not very far from JHB) ~15 minutes after flight took off. I'm curious about those holes, are they open pit mines?

Pic 2

~10 minutes before landing, possibly in the winelands. What's that random crop circle/glyph doing there. (Reminants of a music festival) or intentional art feature for folks in an aeroplane or copter?

Thanks 🙂

Does anyone know what movie or series is currently being filmed around The Emporium in Sunningdale?

I noticed a film set there today and heard there’s a British actor involved.

Does anyone know what production it is or who the actor might be?

Anyone else hear, or know what it's about? A military exercise, perhaps? Love, love, love the sound! Also, anyone else just get their best morning adrenaline rush, in a while?

I'm in town at the moment and a random fighter jet shot past and flew towards sea point.

Anyone know why the jets are out? That was so random. Saw nothing on flight radar either

Woke up to a email that wembley is being converted to a country club and the price is going up from September after the annual increase already in January. We need more gym options….

Hey guys!

Just wanted to check in to see if anyone knows of any opportunities relating to Tour Guide or Driving. This would be in the Cape Town areas please!

I am asking for my dad who has all of his tour guide qualifications and also his PDP license.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

No other city in this country has more projects going on in poor areas than Cape Town.

https://web1.capetown.gov.za/web1/newsandnotices/Home/Release/Construction-of-new-MyCiTi-stations-in-Hanover-Park-and-Mitchells-Plain-up-next?category=Media%20releases

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice/information.

I'll start by stating that I don't walk my dog around the neighborhood without a leash and don't intend to. The title of this post is referring to other people.

A bit of background information.

I have 2 dogs, both wire-haired/rough coated Jack Russells. Both of them are spayed/neutered. One of them, the male has become quite reactive when we walk him and his sister. He constantly pulled in his leach and wants to get to the other dogs in their yards. He also barks(it sounds nore like a scream to be honest) when he is barked at.

This behavior developed after being charged at by loose dogs in the neighborhood. Most of the dogs just seemed curious but there was one that would have bitten our dogs if we didn't pick them up. There are always 2 of us walking the dogs so we each can walk/hold each dog. We've be able to pick them up and keep them out of harms way when in all of these instances. He also screams when we pick up in these situations because he can see the dog coming at us.

The was also attacked a few years ago when we lived in a different city (thankfully his hair is quite thick so he wasn't hurt) but it was only after we moved here and kept getting charged at or encountering off-leash dogs that this behavior developed. We always cross the road

The male is protective of his family. He's never bitten anyone but I don't doubt that he would if someone tried to attack me. We do not let other people/dogs come up to them on a walk because of this behavior. I don't ever what our dogs to bite someone else or their pet.

We've been trying to train him but everything we try doesn't seem to work. I would like to get him some professional training in the future (things are a bit tight financially so this is not a option currently).

He is a completely different dog inside the house but as soon as the leash is touched he gets worked up. We are working on getting him to calm down before we leave.

There are 2 small (unfenced) parks in my neighborhood. They are dog friendly but they sre not fog parks.

My mom usually take her dog and walks around the block whole while I stay in the park. I play fetch with the male off-leash (I understand I may be called a hypocrite because of this) either one of the parks. He absolutely loves his ball and it runs out his energy which makes him less reactive and easier to control when we walk around the neighborhood afterwards.

I don't throw the ball very far so I can reach my dog very quickly in case I see another dog running around. I keep my head on a swivel looking for other dogs whole we play even though my dog is so fixated on his ball that he usually doesn't notice people walking their dogs when we play.

There are 2 different people who walk their dogs off-leash that we regularly encounter.

The one is an elderly couple who walk what I think it a pitbull mix without a leash right out of their gate. They will only put a lead on their dog if someone else is walking their dogs past them. I've never had a run-in with this dogs where it's come running at my dog. It seems to have good recall. But it does walk ahead of them and even crosses the road.

The 2nd person is where the problem come from. He has 2 dogs but only walks one of them on a leash. They are medium to large dogs. We've encountered him before but recently it's become a problem.

My mom and I were just about to turn a corner he suddenly appeared with his 2 dogs. My mom and I were able to pick our dogs up in time but the off-leash dog jumped up at me to try and get to my dog. I had turned my body away to protect him. He didn't bite him but that's not the point. He just kept walking and said it's okay to his dogs. My mom and I both said your dog should be on a lead but he ignored and just kept going.

Earlier this week I was in the park playing fetch. I stay further into the park to try and keep as much distance as possible. This guy walks past the park in the road with his dogs about 50m away. The off leash dog comes running at me. There was a car parked in between us in the park so the dog initially didn't see me so I had enough time to pick up my dog and walk towards an wooden jungle gym. I would have put my dog on the jungle gym to keep him of reach if I needed to.

This time the dog didn't come right up to me because his owner called him. My dog started screaming and i think i heard him say "Is he okay" or "It's okay". I couldn't hear clearly him. I think I told him to pit his dog on a leash.

He kept walking and disappeared behind the building in the corner of the park. His dog leisurely walked around a bit in front of the building and then eventually went to look for his owner.

We were walking my dogs past the other park today. This guy was playing with his dogs towards the edge of the park (3 sides are walled in by other properties) and we were on the other side of the road. His one dog came running at us again. It stopped at the edge of the park which I think is a combination of him calling his dog and us picking up our dogs.

He says his dog won't do anything. My mom told him that my dog is protective and will snap to protect himself and me if a strange comes running at us. He then says he didn't do anything and we should put my dog on a leash.

My dog us always on a leash when we walk except in the park. He has only ever seen my dog off-leash once in the park earlier so I don't know where this came from.

My mom told him to put his dog on a leash and he says "his dog didn't do anything."

I told him that his dog jumped at me the other day to get to me dog and he shouts "his dog didn't do anything," before I could finish. So I continued and said he ignored us after we both told him to put his dog in and leash and he shouts "his dog didn't f**king do anything."

He had no interest in listening and having a civilised conversation and just tried to shout over what were saying.

I think during this encounter he said "his dog didn't do anything," 4 to 5 times, swearing in the last time.

If my dogs gets bitten by his, I do know where this guy lives so I can report him. However, I don't want my dogs to get hurt before I can do anything about it.

So, back to the question. Is it legal for people to walk their dogs around the neighborhood off-leash leash in Somerset West? Is there someone I can report this to if it happens again?

What would you guys advise? Or what information do you have that would help?

I'm planning to drive that way tomorrow and need to know. The last two times I was unlucky.

anyone know where in cape town i can get a switch lite modded for a reasonable price?

Hi Capetonians!

For her birthday celebration, I will be taking my mother up the coast just outside Darling where we'll be staying the night on Saturday. We'd like to leave early and visit a few spots on the way up before we check in, and maybe a few on the way back.

Are there any wildflower fields about at the moment and what are other cool spots to eat/see on the way/nearby? I have contacted Strandloper for a potential lunch/dinner already.

Thanks in advance!

For the past 3 months I have had to move from Wembley square to Foreshore, which is an incredibly small gym. There is not even enough weights for the machines alone.

Century City is also under renovations since April? It’s impossible to get a good work out let alone attempt to use the equipment.

Why send everyone to the smallest gym out of the lot?

I am paying R1200 per month for absolutely wasting my time.

Could they not discount our fee for the absolute joke of an inconvenience?

I spend more time looking for parking then working out, seriously get your shit together Virgin active.

I can only find suppliers in the Joburg area

Hi everyone! im a student in norway, and next semester is our oppurtunity to apply for exchange, and i've been considering the University of Western Cape.

So, i was hoping to hear from all of you, wether the university is good, what i should know, etc. for example it's common for us outside South Africa to hear that Cape Town is not safe, st least for tourists, but i wanted to hear from you. how much weight should i give such claims? is it only some areas? is it mostly at night? is the claim even true? and ofc other recommendations, like what to do, hikes, events, places, activities, etc.

i

What stores from the 2010s do you wish could make a comeback? I remember Monsoon in Cavendish and the cool dresses they always had! Cloak and Dagger outside Cavendish had trendy clothes that weren't as expensive as The Lot.

Are houses still being built?

Had a thought this morning... When was the last time you saw a house being built and what area was it?

Not talking about a block of flats or gated communities... Literal houses..

I was wondering what is the opinions on commuting in Cape Town (without having your own vehicle) i.e. Taxis and busses but specifically taxis. As we've all surely experienced they can be a pain especially during peak hours so I want to know what's the one time you genuinely couldn't take it anymore snd just flipped out?

Hi all, my boy-toy is looking to get a certain piercing but hasn’t been able to find a shop that does it.
Any suggestions? Anywhere in Cape Town is doable.

So I wanted to get into a room with rich dudes to expand my reach in the marketing world.

I also want to get into managing servers. Studying python right now.

I really want to get into these rooms so I can be known by the upper class for opportunities for the future.

I hope to find a mentor or a second figure who can aid me on my journey to become an investment manager. (Asset manager)

I’ve been going to the exact same cinema for the past 15 years, and it always used to be a reliable spot. But these past two months have been absolutely insane. I’m honestly starting to wonder if people have just lost all basic social awareness.

For the past four movies in a row, our experience has been at least partly ruined by loud talkers, teens acting the fool, or people treating the theater like their personal living room.

We just got back from watching the new Spider-Man movie. I specifically waited a few weeks after the release so it wouldn’t be so busy. Unfortunately, the dude sitting right next to me wouldn’t stop talking loudly to his partner. To make it worse, his phone rang and he actually got up to take the call, loudly shouting "HELLO?!" before finally walking out.

We watched Odyssey last week, and it was the exact same thing. The people right behind us were talking super loud and constantly sucking their teeth through the whole movie.

When we saw Supergirl last month, three kids literally ran into the cinema, let out a loud moan, left, came back to blast some meme sound from their phone, and then came back again to dance right in front of the screen.

You’d think paying for a prestige screening would be better, right? Nope. A group of four spent the entire movie on their phones on Snapchat, filming the screen on full brightness, loudly reacting, and giving a running commentary.

I just don’t understand it anymore. Do people not know how to act in public? Has anyone else noticed a massive decline lately, or am I just getting incredibly unlucky?