Crime on Table Mountain

[Lisbeth]

Still crimes there

[Alf]

Great work

[Lisbeth]

Table Mountain hikers step up action to reclaim trails from ‘handful of thugs’ after muggings


The hikers on Lion’s Head who are demanding increased policing from SANParks. (Photo: Samane Jnr Marks)

By Samane Jnr Marks | 04 Dec 2023

On a mission to demand safety and security on Table Mountain amid a spate of mountain attacks, a group of about 50 people held a protest hike along the 5.5km Lion’s Head trail at dawn on Friday.
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‘We’ve decided to roll up our sleeves and to do some work ourselves,” said Andy Davies, describing how they plan to raise awareness and help to ensure safety on Table Mountain.

Davies, the chairperson of the public forum Friends of Table Mountain (FOTM), spoke to Daily Maverick after organising a 5km hiking march on Friday to raise awareness and boost safety and security on the mountain.

“We have a beautiful mountain in the middle of our city. It is completely unacceptable that we fear exploring the mountain because of crime,” he said.

“Basically our demand is that SANParks (South African National Parks) provide more resources and work more closely with the City of Cape Town Metro Police and the Western Cape government to increase safety on the mountain.

“We’ve seen an upsurge in crime and we want to highlight this problem. The management authority of the to hear our outcry. We know that SANParks have enough money to provide sufficient resources in the park. We demand an increase in their operating budget to protect the Table Mountain National Park.”

On Friday, 1 December 2023, at 5am, more than 50 Capetonians marched on the Lion’s Head hiking trail in Cape Town calling on the Table Mountain National Park to increase the budget for security to protect hikers, runners and cyclists following a spate of robberies in recent months.

The protest, led by the revived Friends of Lion’s Head committee, started at the Lion’s Head parking lot and ended at the peak of the trail. The committee’s main objective is to lobby for SANParks to manage the park better and deploy more quality resources to ensure safety along the trail.

It comes in the wake of 80 muggings on Table Mountain, Signal Hill and Lion’s Head recorded this year alone, according to FOTM.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Table Mountain muggings: How do you secure a national park with 850km of trails?

‘Not ready to give up the mountain’

One hiker, Kevin Berry from Gordon’s Bay, told Daily Maverick he is not ready to give up the mountain.

“These criminals have made me not explore the mountain as I used to anymore. It has affected me negatively, honestly. I want to see change, we need to feel and be safe again walking, running and cycling the mountain,” he said.

He added: “I now started running with a knife even though I might not use it, but I am not ready to give up the mountain.

“I am a runner and most of the time I use the mountain to prepare my mental being and fitness to compete. So, with these recent muggings, my social media platforms have been flooded with people telling me not to go anymore. It’s not safe and most of the time I spend it training alone. So, I need to use the mountain to prepare for upcoming events. I am just not ready to give up the mountain.”

Read more in Daily Maverick: Table Mountain National Park — escaped genies and the desperately ill cash cow

The attacks in the Table Mountain National Park are not new, as muggers lurk in the undergrowth and on the trails, waiting for their next victim. Crime spikes in the park always result in a public outcry and a long, hard look at how the park is managed.


Hikers and runners march to demand heightened safety on Table Mountain on 1 December 2023 (Photo: Samane Jnr Marks)

Andrea Scheepers, a qualified mountain guide from the FOLH committee, told Daily Maverick on Friday that the mountain used to be her playground, but now it’s unsafe.

“I think anyone that’s lived in Cape Town realises that this mountain is extremely precious. I think besides it being a magnet, it’s just a playground for all of us. Runners, walkers, hikers, trail runners, road runners spend a lot of time up here,” she said.

She added that “all I want is to be able to come up here again and feel safe and not have to text 10 different men to ask them to accompany me”.


Sean McCormack from Durbanville at the peaceful protest on Lion’s Head on 1 December 2023. (Photo: Samane Jnr Marks)

Sean McCormack, from Durbanville, said he has lived in Cape Town for more than 35 years and would like his grandkids to cherish the mountain as well.

“I don’t do a lot of mountain climbing per se but I do a lot of running in the mountains. I’m not a traveller, I do road running, and I just enjoy it. You know, I want my children and the generation after them to love it, I want all of us to enjoy it,” he said.

McCormack added that “the saddest thing is, it’s like a minority of people, it’s a handful of thugs, hooligans, whatever you want to call them, that are holding this mountain at their ransom. Cape Town’s got six million people so we need to stand up to it. It’s high time we stand to show them that they won’t win the game.

“It’s a fantastic initiative they got this morning. And, hats off to the guys that got this together. It was a good turnout and I think it’s going to grow from here. Andy mentioned they’re going to take it to Parliament that is where things start. I’m looking forward to supporting it going forward as well and I’m sure a lot of people will and it will pick up momentum.”

Buzzer Community Safety App

Andy Davies told Daily Maverick on Wednesday they had arranged a Buzzer Community Safety App which is free to download for the public.

Users can get help in an emergency by pushing the SOS button and if their community is connected to a professional responder, they will be en route the moment your SOS is received.

Where there isn’t an immediate emergency, they can report information about a situation:

• Suspicious: This could be any suspicious activity from a person or vehicle;

• Fire: You are able to report smoke for fire coming from green area or a home;

• Municipal: Alert responders or community to damaged roads, faulty street lights or burst water pipes;

• Medical: Receive medical help by sending out an alert to your community; and

• Crime: Report any criminal activity.

FOTM recommends the safety tips for mountain users:

• Download the community safety app;

• Always be vigilant of your surroundings;

• If you feel threatened or uncomfortable, press the panic button; and

• Only use the mountain in groups during daylight hours.

The panic button on the app provides a precise GPS location for the nearest security service provider, including SANParks. Otherwise the City of Cape Town emergency line is on 021 480 7700. DM

[Lisbeth]

It is absolutely crazy the kind of criminality that you find all over the place. Soon nobody will dare to go out of the door

[Richprins]

Too true!

[Lisbeth]

‘He said he would chop my finger off’ — hikers describe ordeal after two more Cape Town mountain muggings

By Samane Jnr Marks | 06 Dec 2023

The latest attacks within the Table Mountain National Park involved a mountain guide and her American friend, as well as a group of mountain bikers. Both groups were held up at knifepoint. Two suspects were arrested in connection with the biker incident.
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In the first incident, which occurred between 8.15am and 9am on Monday, mountain guide Brinny Ridgway and a tourist friend from North Carolina in the US were robbed by a man wielding a knife on the Kasteelspoort hiking trail on Table Mountain.

It is the latest in a spate of muggings in the Table Mountain National Park, and which led to a peaceful protest last Friday to highlight safety and security issues.

The Kasteelspoort trail takes hikers to a lesser-visited part of Table Mountain, with views of Camps Bay, Lion’s Head, Clifton beaches and the mountain range.

Ridgway, who has 15 years’ experience as a mountain guide, told Daily Maverick the robber was hiding behind a bush at the top of the trail, dressed in khaki pants. He suddenly jumped in front of them with a “big knife”, ordering them not to move.

“He ordered us to sit down, which we did. And then he took my wedding ring, and said he would chop my finger off as I was having difficulty taking it off. He took my friend’s phone and asked me if I had any cash, and I said yes. I gave him all my cash, including my cellphone,” she said.

“He then wanted me to log into my bank account and transfer some money to him, but there’s no reception there. I explained to him, and showed him, I was trying to log in. I said to my friend just sit down and don’t look at him. After we gave him the cash he actually calmed down.

“He gave me my purse and driver’s licence back, [and] all my cards. At some stage he said ‘shame’ to me after taking my phone. He went a little way down to get reception, and said we shouldn’t move. As he went down the path we quickly gathered our bags and went up the mountain as quickly as we could.”

They bumped into two women from the mountain club and told them what had happened, and then reported the incident at Camps Bay police station.

Daily Maverick sent queries to the police but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Bikers held up
In another incident on Monday, mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said a robbery was reported at Signal Hill, and two arrests were made.


Mugging sites using unofficial statistics collected by volunteers working with Friends of Table Mountain.

A group of mountain bikers had been “held up at knifepoint and mugged of their valuables” on the jeep track close to Military Road.

A description of the attackers was quickly circulated “among various role players” within the Table Mountain National Park Safety Forum. “A short while later, SAPS arrested a suspect matching the description, while the second suspect had disappeared.”

After the second suspect was detained he was “positively identified as the known accomplice and arrested”.

“We now need to ensure that these perpetrators are brought to justice.”

Andy Davies from Friends of Table Mountain (FOTM) told Daily Maverick the Kasteelspoort incident is “unprecedented”.

“It is the first time an attack has been reported that high up on the side of the mountain.”

The latest attacks are among more than 80 muggings that have been reported on Table Mountain, Signal Hill and Lion’s Head in 2023, according to the FOTM.

‘A lot has been taken away’

Capetonian Lisa Allerman, who was mugged by armed men in a separate incident, said that for years Table Mountain has been the place where she “fills her cup”.

“The trees, the tranquillity and the fresh air helped me to clear my mind and process thoughts after a busy day.”

But on Monday, 23 October, the mountain became a place of fear.

“I was at Table Mountain at one point and I looked up and got an eerie feeling that something was really off… and I told myself I must turn around. Suddenly I saw two men dressed in black, robbing a woman and her child. They were about 50m away. I tried to phone for help but I could hardly get a word out because immediately the men approached me.

“I begged them not to hurt me and I handed over my phone, even volunteered the necklace I was wearing. Immediately after that the two men robbed another person in the vicinity and disappeared.

“Even though I got away unharmed, the trauma and feelings of violation still haunt me. I haven had the courage to go back to the mountain,” she admits. A lot has been taken, comfort, the feeling of freedom, and the feeling of safety.”

Preservationists on Lion’s Head after a march to demand increased policing from SANParks. (Photo: Samane Jnr Marks)

Crime has no boundary, said Taahir Osman, the founder of Take Back Our Mountains (TBOM), an organisation that arranges secure hikes and runs in all high-risk areas in the Table Mountain National Park.

“The criminals are taking advantage because there is no beefed-up security on the ground. It’s all about talk-show hype whenever there is a crime in the media, but being on the group doing regular patrols is a different story,” he told Daily Maverick.

“Crime is something that has been inherited from social and economic challenges years ago, that is why we’re severely struggling nowadays. The City has advanced its surveillance within the CBD with all these small security units to boost safety in the inner city, only forgetting all these other areas like Table Mountain National Park.

“The criminals are well aware that once they try anything in town they’ll get caught, so they go to Table Mountain because there is no beefed-up security. SANParks isn’t putting much effort in intensifying its efforts to curb these ongoing spate of attacks on mountain users. The national park is currently a weak point.”

Hot Spots, a petition and emergency line
Common crime hotspots in the Table Mountain National Park include:

• Signal Hill on the slopes

• Sea Point Side and the city side

• The cycling trail around Lion’s Head

• The pipe track

FOTM have started a campaign to stop crime. Here is a link to its petition

If you feel threatened or uncomfortable on the mountain you can call the city’s emergency line on 021-4807700. DM