Cape Town - A rider on a leisurely cycle through Tokai with his wife was hit so hard by stick-wielding muggers that his helmet cracked.
Tony Pushman and his wife Hazel of Green Point are the latest victims of muggers in the Table Mountain National Park.
This is the first reported attack on cyclists on the mountain since April 28.
The couple had set out along the jeep tracks at about lunchtime on Sunday.
At the end of the trail they had just decided to go back the way they had come when they saw two men.
“There were two men coming towards us. They didn’t look like your average hikers and they were each carrying a big stick,” Pushman said.
The men parted for the riders, but as they were passing Pushman felt hands on his saddle and he was jerked off his bike. They wrestled for the backpack and his assailant started hitting him.
He was hit on his head and arms, and his helmet was smashed, he said.
He glanced at his wife and saw a stick hovering over her head. She shouted to him to let go of the bag and he did.
The muggers cycled off with the bikes and the Pushmans used their cellphones to call friends who lived nearby to help them.
Pushman was bruised and his wife was shaken by the experience.
Provincial police spokesman Captain Frederick van Wyk confirmed that police were investigating a robbery. No arrests had been made.
While safety continues to be a concern for hikers, bikers and other mountain users, one group has taken the initiative in a bid to deter criminals.
Two surveillance cameras have been introduced in strategic locations to monitor trails regularly used by walkers, runners and cyclists, and to monitor criminals’ suspected access and escape routes. One is in Deer Park, and the other two are on trails in the City Bowl and Newlands Forest.
Since the attack on the Pushmans there has been talk of placing cameras on the Tokai trails.
Robert Vogel, founder of Table Mountain Bikers, a voluntary initiative launched to try to reduce crime on the mountain, made an appeal on Twitter for the money needed for the cameras.
The 350 members were asked to donate R50 each to cover the costs.
“Within two weeks I had more than R30 000,” Vogel said.
In the end, he had enough money to import three cameras, and the balance will be used for the upkeep of the cameras, airtime, and a reserve fund for an additional camera when the need arises.
Vogel said that following the attack in April the organisation met Table Mountain National Park authorities to discuss the security situation and they responded by increasing ranger visibility in hot spots.
“The overriding message has always been to not be scared off the mountain by criminals, but to rather take it back and squeeze out the criminal element,” he said.
The solar-powered “covert scout” cameras, which have infrared lights for night-time pictures, are on suspected criminal access routes and are activated by movement.
The photos are sent to designated cellphone numbers and e-mail addresses, sending information to the group and SANParks at the same time.
The cameras can also record video.
“The cameras are mobile which means we can move them to any location on the mountain as and when required,” Vogel said.
“The cameras belong to Table Mountain Bikers, but we work with Table Mountain National Park people to determine camera locations, and we share all the information gathered.”
Merle Collins of Table Mountain National Park welcomed the initiative and said “all sorts of methods” to promote safety were being tried.
Another initiative being introduced was the use of social media such as Twitter to track hikers who ventured on to trails.
Anyone with information about the robbery in Tokai is asked to call the investigating officer, Constable Brink, at 021 702 8918 / 072 3551 912 or Cime Stop at 08600 10111.
Cape Argus