Pretoria - Denying the danger posed by criminals to hikers in the city’s nature reserves is fuelling the increase in the number of attacks, DA leaders said on Sunday.
Evidence of this was another attack, this time on a cyclist at Fort Klapperkop on Saturday evening, the DA said. It came only weeks after the city assured concerned citizens it would deal with the situation.
“The city has to be safe,” DA mayoral candidate Solly Msimanga said, calling for more patrols.
Msimanga and former DA leader Helen Zille were at Groenkloof Nature Reserve on a 3km hike to raise awareness of the dangers and show support for the victims. They were accompanied by security and party supporters.
“People need to be encouraged to report these crimes. If they do not, the statistics will not reflect the magnitude of the problem,” Zille said.
The hike came in the wake of an outcry at the rate at which criminals ambushed hikers at nature reserves.
Civic society and community groups last month met to discuss ways to make the nature reserves safer, including installing CCTV cameras. Beefing up the perimeter fence was also mooted.
As those talks and plans were being finalised, a woman was attacked at Fort Klapperkop on a trail close to Fountains Circle on Saturday night. Hi Risk Security officers said the woman had been riding ahead of her husband when she was accosted by four men.
They dragged her into the bushes and hit her head with a rock.
“She screamed and fought the attackers who were trying to strangle her. Her husband was unaware of the incident,” the company posted on Facebook. Then two assailants started chasing him. He rescued his wife and they fled to the R21, where a motorist took them to safety. A search failed to find the attackers.
Pretoria News