Cape Town – The murder of Ukrainian hiker Ivan Ivanov, 43, on a popular hiking trail at the weekend has shocked Capetonians and garnered international attention.
A 25-year-old suspect, who allegedly confessed to the robbery and stabbing and informed the police where they could find the body, was due to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court today over the murder of 44-year-old Ukrainian Ivan Ivanov.
* Ivanov was stabbed to death about 10 metres from the trail exit at East Fort on Chapman’s Peak Drive, near a car park, around 11.30am on Saturday. The incident is not the first robbery at East Fort but there hasn't been one for a "long time", the Hout Bay Community Policing Forum said. He had been warned by his guest-house hosts not to walk solo on the trail.
* He was attacked by three men and bled to death on the trail after being stabbed a number of times in the chest. Andre van Schalkwyk, the Table Mountain Safety Action Group chairperson, called it a "massacre". Ivanov's backpack, cellphone and other possessions were bagged as evidence.
* Ivanov leaves behind three children – Gleb, 20, a 12-year-old daughter, Taisia, and a 3-year-old son, Makar.
* Ivanov, who had been staying at a Hout Bay guest house for a few days on business, had visited South Africa three times before and spent his final weekend in the city doing his favourite activity – hiking. He worked for Bureau Veritas, a recognised world leader in testing, inspection and certification services
* A Community Cohesion trauma counsellor at the crime scene had telephoned Ivanov’s wife, who was in Geneva with family, around 2pm on Saturday. However, Van Schalkwyk said the family had first heard the news on social media.
* Gleb Ivanov said his father was fond of Cape Town and had intended bringing his family here one day. Now, however, Glen has no intention of ever visiting South Africa.
* Passers-by who saw the suspects fleeing used an app called Buzzer to alert the Community Crime Prevention (CCP). The alert enabled the CCP, which has created a streaming source for 820 individually owned cameras around the area, to apprehend a suspect.
* Van Schalkwyk has become increasingly concerned with criminal activity in the Table Mountain National Park. Since the group began in 2006, they have recorded more than 400 criminal incidents and five murders. Van Schalkwyk accused SANParks and the City of failing to deliver on promises made last year to the Table Mountain Safety Action Group. SANParks has in response to Saturday's incident appointed 55 tourism monitors to patrol hot spots on Table Mountain and will be deploying a K9 unit to assist police in apprehending suspects.
* About 135 Take Back Our Mountains hikers walked up the Silvermine hiking trail yesterday to raise awareness over criminal activities. The group's founder, Taahir Osman, said: “We need the City, SANParks and other authorities to work together."