Cape Town - Fear has gripped the Hermanus valley of Hemel en Aarde, with a manhunt on for a robber – wearing only a loincloth and clutching a knife – alleged to have attacked several cyclists on a popular trail.
Bikers fear the man, who some believe could be mentally ill or performing some kind of ritual, is intent upon hurting those he targets.
This week police scoured the bike trails in Hemel en Aarde Valley in an attempt to find him.
People in the area were warned to be on the lookout for the man, who is also wanted for other crimes.
A Whatsapp group has been created so if anyone spots him the information can be spread quickly.
The Hemel en Aarde Valley made news nine years ago when serial rapist Johannes Mowers, who had been on the run after escaping from a Caledon police cell in 2004, was arrested there.
A year after his escape he kidnapped two girls, then aged 4 and 14, and in 2007 they were rescued from a burrow he had made in the valley.
In 2008 Mowers, who was wanted for other crimes in the Hermanus area, was sentenced to 211 years in jail.
The latest unconnected crime spree started about three weeks ago when a man allegedly broke into a car and tried to get into a house on a local farm estate.
Last Thursday two cyclists were attacked and the next day the man allegedly mugged at least two cyclists, attacked a third and jumped into the path of several other cyclists, chasing them along the valley.
Photographs of him were captured by a cyclist’s helmet-mounted camera and distributed on social media. One shows him with what appears to be a watch on his ankle.
The man is also seen clutching a knife and a long stick.
This week police spokeswoman Constable Noloyiso Rwexana warned residents to watch out for the man.
“We urge the community to be on the lookout for the suspect and contact the police when they see him.” She said cases of robbery and malicious damage to property were being investigated.
Paul du Toit of Hermanus Adventures, which maintains bike trails in the area, said the man had not been seen since the attacks.
“There is a team of people going into the mountain to try and find him,” he said.
Du Toit said it was not clear where the man had come from.
“We are concerned the man is not stable.”
A message from one of those who was attacked was posted on Facebook.
“A few kids were confronted and attacked by a fully psycho person,” it said.
“A few minutes later as I patrolled to find him two more cyclists were attacked; on trying to help them, I was also attacked, he had a long stick and a very long knife which he used with extreme aggression. Please avoid the trail until we know that he has been flushed out.”
Jacqui Jackson, co-ordinator of the Hermanus Cycling Club, said she had been cycling with a youngster on the Hemel en Aarde tracks a day before the attacks and had seen the man.
“He was standing with his back to me wearing black pants and shirt. He was on my right.”
She greeted him, but he did not respond.
A while later a cyclist was nearly attacked and another nearly robbed.
“He rolled out barbed wire (which injured a cyclist) across a trail.
“He also knocked a woman off her bike, but couldn’t get anything from her. He hit her on her right arm,” Jackson said.
The next day several other attacks took place.
Jackson said that two weeks before the attacks on the cyclists, the man allegedly broke into a car and tried to get into a home on a farm estate.
This week a resident on the estate, who declined to be named, confirmed the incidents. CCTV footage of the man was captured and handed to detectives.
Philip-Ben Kotze, a biker who once headed the cycling club in Hermanus, said he had used the same trail where the attacks took place two days later.
“It’s a little bit quieter, there are fewer people. People are afraid.
“We were told by fellow cyclists he’s not there to steal, but that he’s definitely there to cause harm.”
Kotze said one of the images showed the man wearing what appeared to be a runner’s watch on his ankle.
The loin cloth he was wearing also appeared to be torn from another piece of clothing.
“It’s almost like he’s stealing from people and then claiming and wearing the items he’s taken.”
Kotze said as far as he knew, the man was allegedly involved in other crimes carried out prior to the attacks on cyclists.
“I think they’ve linked this person to other crimes he did when he was actually wearing more clothing.”
He believed the man could be mentally ill.
“Or, it’s quite alarming, based on what he was wearing he could be doing a ritual.”
Some residents thought the man had left the area following the attacks.
Weekend Argus