The N2 cuts straight through the heart of Sedgefield. It is our main street, our school route, our market access road, and the wall against which hundreds of homes are built. It is also a national freight corridor on which heavy trucks travel at highway speed, day and night — and at night, with no visible enforcement at all.

We — the residents, ratepayers, business owners, and visitors of Sedgefield — call on SANRAL, the Western Cape Minister of Mobility, and the Knysna Municipality to act now, while the N2 Garden Route upgrade programme is live and budgets are mobilised, to make this stretch of road safe.

We ask for two specific, proven interventions:

1. Traffic calming circles (roundabouts) at the key Sedgefield intersections on the N2. Roundabouts physically reduce truck and vehicle speeds without halting freight flow. They are standard practice in towns along national routes worldwide, and they save lives.

2. 24-hour speed enforcement through Sedgefield, with average-speed-over-distance cameras. The night-time speeding problem cannot be solved by a sign. Heavy trucks accelerate through our town in the small hours to catch the only traffic light on green, and there is no one watching. Average-speed cameras work around the clock, cannot be evaded by braking at a single point, and have a proven record of bringing fatality rates down on stretches exactly like ours.

Why this is urgent

 • The N2 through Sedgefield has seen repeated serious crashes, including a major multi-vehicle collision near the Sedgefield Bridge in May 2025 in which several people were seriously injured.
 • At night, heavy trucks routinely speed through town. There is no visible enforcement after dark.
 • Sedgefield’s Saturday community market draws large numbers of visitors into and through town, creating unique weekly traffic challenges on the N2 that current infrastructure was never designed to handle.
 • SANRAL is currently spending more than R1,5 billion on the N2 Wilderness upgrades (Phases 1 and 2) and tens of billions on the broader N2 corridor. Adding traffic calming and enforcement infrastructure to Sedgefield while contractors and budgets are already on site is the most cost-effective moment to act. Waiting means waiting for the next funeral.

What we are NOT asking for

We are not asking to slow national freight or disrupt the N2 economy. Roundabouts keep traffic moving — they only stop it from killing people. Speed enforcement penalises only those who break the law.

Lawful drivers, day or night, will not notice the difference.

Sign this petition if you believe a small coastal town should not have to bury its residents to be heard.

Every signature is a name SANRAL, Minister Sileku, and the Knysna Municipality will have to answer to. Our goal is 10 000 signatures — enough for local and national media, including Newzroom Afrika, to take this story to the country.

Share this with every Sedgefield, Knysna, Wilderness, George, and Garden Route group you belong to. Forward it to anyone who has driven this road at night.