The South African police will partner with the City of Cape Town and Table Mountain National Parks to patrol Noordhoek Beach following a recent spate of attacks on hikers and beachgoers in the area.
On Saturday last week, a woman and her family were left traumatised after she was injured in an attack by a man wielding a knife. The woman and her husband were walking on Noordhoek Beach when an attacker attempted to stab the couple. When the blade of the knife broke, the attacker attacked the woman with a before flinging it at her husband.
The couple’s daughter found help from a medical doctor who happened to be on the beach. The doctor treated the injured woman before ambulances arrived. She received several stitches but is recovering well.
According to the victim’s husband, SANParks rangers were present when his wife was stabilised, and only went in search of the attacker thereafter.
According to Colonel Andre Traut, Western Cape South African Police Services spokesperson, the SAPS will be working in conjunction with the City of Town and Table Mountain National Parks to patrol the beach as part of a new crime prevention initiative. “SAPS has centralised Fish Hoek and Ocean View, and all previous dockets are being viewed to determine patterns and similarities,” Traut adds.
This evening we secured The City of Cape Town Law Enforcement and Security agreementto partner and to assist the TM Security Action Group with it’s aim to be part of an integrated Safety Plan together with @SANParks #tmcrime https://t.co/FwACP7xBRr
— Table Mountain Watch (@TableMntnWatch) February 1, 2018
Table Mountain Watch will also be hosting a meeting tomorrow, February 21, at the Mountain Club of South Africa at 6pm to discuss how the people of Cape Town will reclaim their parks.
Reacting to the complaints of many hikers, SANParks has also mobilised resources to tighten up security around parks in a bid to make Capetonians feel safer when out hiking.