[imagesource: Coral Gardiner and Candice-Lee Kannemeyer]

A middle-class Cape Town suburb has erected a few interesting road signs that seem to be welcoming drug dealers into the area.

One sign points to a “cocaine dropoff zone” that operates at certain hours on weekdays, while a second sign asks drivers to “give way to oncoming drug dealers”.

A local resident put them up as a way to deter the illegal activity, which has become rife in the suburb of Rosebank, per Business Insider SA.

The resident said that the quiet residential streets of Rosebank have been plagued by drug deals, commenting on how “there were always two vehicles, each with two people inside, and large packages were being exchanged”.

The same resident added that the situation was fit for “wholesale dealing, not retail”.

The last straw was drawn in early October when a dealer swerved at a pedestrian, forcing one resident to lay a charge of attempted murder.

That’s when police raided a dealer who was arrested with 17 packages of cocaine and a large amount of cash in his car.

Although, the deals kept coming.

The person, who would prefer to remain anonymous to avoid potential retaliation from drug dealers, came up with the idea of adding the sensational road signs all over after watching a YouTube video about a similar protest in Tower Hamlets, London:

“There was lots of complaining, but it becomes background noise and doesn’t achieve much,” the man says.

“Using humour, though, is very South African, and I thought it was a way of letting the dealers know, “We’re watching you even if the police aren’t.’”

Although there have been one or two petulant neighbours, most of the local residents think the idea has been brilliant:

Rosebank resident Coral Gardiner says a “dropoff” sign was put up outside her house during the night. “I had a good chuckle when I saw it in the morning,” she says.

“It’s such a clever way of bringing this issue to people’s attention, and whoever’s responsible is probably fed up of residents looking the other way.”

Candice-Lee Kannemeyer, who lives in the area, acknowledged that the signs might have been working as she hadn’t seen much happening since they went up around two weeks ago.

The road sign protester said he has been asked to supply the R130 signs to other suburbs and is keen to grow the campaign.

[source:businessinsider]