Lynette Johns
HIKING and mountain safety groups are calling for SANParks to establish a safety forum to find ways of stopping muggings on the mountain, after 10 people were robbed on Lion’s Head at the weekend.
But SANParks Table Mountain National Park spokesperson Merle Collins said there was already a safety forum, which included neighbourhood watches, police and volunteers, and operates as the need arose.
Ten people, nine of them tourists, were mugged on Lion’s Head on Sunday. Last week, three students were robbed.
At the beginning of the month, two hikers were mugged at Schoorsteenkop in Hout Bay and, in a separate incident, two cyclists were robbed of their expensive bikes and one was stabbed in the leg on the Black Hill cycling trail.
On each occasion the robbers threatened the victims with knives and took their belongings, including cellphones and wallets.
Collins said Lion’s Head has been “red-flagged” and there were more patrols. “We are actively searching for the perpetrators.”
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk confirmed the weekend’s incident.
On Sunday, Wian Verwoerd and his girlfriend, Nicole Cruise, from Ireland, were walking behind four groups of two hikers each when he saw two knife-wielding men approach them.
They threatened to shoot the hikers if they did not hand over their valuables. The men took their bags and ran off. The victims gave chase, but the robbers disappeared.
Hikers took to Facebook and Twitter to discuss safety on the mountain. Doreen McClarty, of the Meridian Hiking Club group, said friends of hers hiked with licensed firearms. Other members of the group expressed their dissatisfaction with the way SANParks dealt with safety issues.
Table Mountain Watch spokesperson André van Schalkwyk said he was increasingly hearing hikers wanting to protect themselves by carrying weapons.
“When criminals see their way clear to operating in a certain area, as we see now with Lion’s Head, then that’s because they have observed little or no visible policing in the area.”
But Collins said there is always a security presence on the mountain. There are up to three teams, comprising four people each, who patrol the mountain from Signal Hill to Tafelberg Road, she said.