Cape Town – With more cyclists starting to train for the Cape Town Cycle Tour, a call has been made for authorities to increase road patrols, especially along hot-spot routes.
Cycling associations said they had noticed opportunistic criminals increasingly targeting cyclists, with pepper spray now being used in attacks.
In the most recent incident near Steenberg Village, at about 6.10am on Wednesday, two men allegedly pepper-sprayed a group of six cyclists who were heading towards the US embassy.
Six of the cyclists were pepper-sprayed, with one of them being caught in the eye, forcing him to immediately stop riding. When the rest of the group members realised this and also stopped, the alleged perpetrators, who had started to approach the cyclist, walked away.
Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said Kirstenhof police have no record of a criminal case regarding the incident.
According to the Pedal Power Association (PPA) chairperson Steve Hayward this is the same spot where Faiek Davids was attacked by two men with pangas last year. He said Davids who was left with a broken leg was still trying to recover from his injury.
“Pepper spray seems to be the new trend for these attacks. However, the attacks have also become violent as they are attacking cyclists using bricks, pangas and guns to forcefully take bikes and personal possessions.
“SAPS were patrolling the Steenberg hot spot for some time so there was no criminal activity for months, so it seems as if they waited for the focus to shift elsewhere before striking in the same spot again,” said Hayward.
He advised cyclists to keep on riding in large groups and ensure no one was isolated.
“With more cyclists now training for the Cape Town Cycle Tour which takes place on October 10, it will be noticed by the opportunistic robbers. We recommend that cyclists start WhatsApp groups in their area and find a group or buddy to cycle with,” said Hayward.
He said in other provinces signage erected in dedicated hot spot areas were working well.
The Western Province Cycling Association’s Sharief Peters also condemned the incident after another cyclist was assisted by ADT Security Services earlier this month when he was attacked.
Peters said the ADT official was coming from Wetton driving towards Rosmead when he witnessed two men wrestling with a cyclist over his bike.
“Cyclists must try to also protect themselves with pepper sprays although these criminals are also using that against them. Cameras in some of these hot spots are not really useful because these people still get away.
’’So we need police and private securities to work together and be visible on the routes.”
Cape Times