Cape Town - Safety at the beaches in the province has been of great concern with growing calls for more stringent security measures ahead of the summer holiday season.
This follows the death of a 19-year-old UCT student who was stabbed in the chest after he and his three friends were approached by two men who apparently tried to rob them of their cellphones at Clifton’s 3rd Beach on Saturday.
In a recent incident, one person was stabbed and another assaulted with a brick in Camps Bay Beach was on Monday.
On her Facebook account, Ward 52 councillor Nicola Jowell reported a young man was approached by a man who tried to rob his phone.
“The youth and his friends gave chase after the suspect had cornered him. He then stabbed one in order to get away. The second injury occurred a short while later when Law Enforcement and SAPS was on the scene. One of the youths threw a brick at this man and he was injured by this attack. This person was arrested by SAPS. The initial robbery/stabbing suspect has not yet been arrested,” she said.
Camps Bay Ratepayers Association chairperson Chris Willemse said these incidents were “fairly unprecedented”, adding that they met with the City and security clusters over the matter.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said beach safety was one of the priorities for the City, particularly during the warmer months.
He said they were putting in place measures to ensure significant law enforcement presence on beaches as it appeared that the festive season activities started much earlier this year.
He said these feature prominently in the City’s festive season readiness plan to be made public in November.
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