By Karen Breytenbach
Authorities have called on the owners of guesthouses, bed and breakfasts and holiday flats in Camps Bay to improve their security and give their guests safety tips as several establishments have been struck in the past two months by a gang of robbers who seem to follow the same method.
Referred to as the "sliding door gang" and "glass gang" by locals, the thieves climb through open windows or smash sliding doors to steal tourists' valuables.
In response, the Camps Bay Community Policing Forum (CPF) launched a neighbourhood watch last week and police patrols were stepped up.
Last month, Camps Bay police station commissioner Natasha Thomas and the CPF called a meeting with the owners of accommodation establishments to discuss the problem.
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Bernard Schafer, chairperson of the CPF, said homes were also being targeted, but not as frequently as accommodation establishments because most homes had better security.
He said the owners of small establishments, with security inferior to that of hotels in the area, should stop "burying their heads in the sand".
"Holiday flats, guesthouses and B&Bs seem to be targeted because there is some apathy among the owners.
"They don't tell their guests about crime and how to avoid becoming victims. They're afraid of painting a negative picture. I've attended to burglaries where foreigners renting holiday flats have said they were not shown how to activate the alarm system.
"I've also attended to repeat burglaries at the same guesthouses and then asked the owners, 'Why have you still not put up burglar bars?'"
On Saturday, tourists relaxing beside their guesthouse pool were robbed of valuables by burglars who climbed a palm tree on to the patio and entered their room through a sliding door.
In a hold-up last month in Theresa Road, a family from the UK and the establishment's housekeeper were threatened at knifepoint, with the robbers taking the tourists' one-year-old son hostage until they had handed over all their valuables.
In Houghton Drive last month, a visiting family was robbed of money, clothing and valuables by robbers who scaled the wall.
Chris von Ulmenstein, convener of the Camps Bay Accommodation Association, said it was possible a crime "clean-up" in Hout Bay had pushed criminals into Camps Bay.
Councillor J P Smith said a crackdown on crime, especially in the hospitality industry in Sea Point, could also be making criminals find other targets along the Atlantic seaboard.
Community Safety MEC Leonard Ramatlakane said
police were aware of the reports of crime at accommodation establishments.
The situation was being addressed through "various initiatives and strategic policing".
Police spokesperson Andre Traut said there was a moratorium on releasing statistics, but the situation was being monitored to check for spikes in the number of incidents.
karen.breytenbach@inl.co.za
- This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on March 03, 2008
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