Cape Town - South African National Parks has bid farewell to senior section ranger Hilton Blumeris, who retired this week after 41 years of dedicated service.
Blumeris started his career back in 1980 with the Cape Peninsula National Park, as it was known then, as a law enforcement officer in the Silvermine area and he was promoted to a section ranger when the transition from City to SANParks took place.
“Through his determination and hard work, he was promoted to a senior section ranger in 1998, responsible for the conservation department in Silvermine.
“In 2004 he was transferred to the Kloofnek area where he was stationed as a senior section ranger for the Visitor Safety Department and he has been in this position to date,” SANParks said.
Blemeris said: “It’s been an honour and a pleasure to do this work for 41 years. It has not always been easy and I wish to thank my colleagues, councillors, SAPS, Metro Police, City improvement districts, neighbourhood watches, friends groups and all the other stakeholders who have been instrumental in my journey as a law enforcement officer in Table Mountain National Park.
“It has been an honour and privilege to have worked with the different law enforcement agencies during my career with SANParks for the past 41 years.
“It has at times been a thankless and extremely dangerous occupation, given the recent events where we had to deal with armed and dangerous criminals. But I have always been grateful for the support we received in these difficult times.“
One of Blumeris’s greatest challenges in his line of duty was when criminal activities started escalating in the park.
“He was instrumental in fighting the crime scourge as he had developed a sense of pride and belonging for the mountain. Table Mountain, being an open access area, proved to be very challenging and the Visitor Safety Unit had to come up with improved measures to ensure the park users were safe and that included identifying crime hotspots and doing visible patrols,” SANParks said
It said Blumeris would be remembered in the field of biodiversity conservation for his expertise, and his immense contribution to the Visitor Safety Unit, law enforcement and being part of the numerous forums that have been established over the years in ensuring safety and security of the mountain users.
Cape Argus