[imagesource:here]

We don’t want to bang on the same drum over and over, but we do want you good people to be safe out there.

Earlier this month, we wrote about the violent mugging at Newlands Ravine, where four hikers were tied up and beaten, with three of the victims being stabbed.

At the time, police had arrested four of the five suspects behind that attack.

That story provoked much anger, as it should, and it prompted the Cape Town section of the Mountain Club of South Africa (MCSA) to put out a warning on their Facebook page.

Here is some of what they had to say:

The Club urges members to exercise caution when planning hiking routes. There are currently very few areas that can be considered completely safe, and you are advised to be aware of areas that have seen a recent escalation in crime.

The recent series of assaults on trail runners & hikers on the Saddle at the top of Newlands Ravine, as well as on walkers, hikers, runners and cyclists in Newlands forest, represent a significant shift in the level of violence involved, unfortunately similar to that of the tragic attacks in the Kalk Bay and Karbonkelberg areas earlier this year.

In the Facebook post, they name certain areas as “high-risk”:

Newlands Forest in its entirety, Newlands Ravine, the Saddle behind Devil’s Peak, the slopes of Devil’s Peak, the Blockhouses and nearby mountain biking trails. All these areas have seen several assaults recently, and while some of the perpetrators have, of late, been apprehended, others remain at large. There are also reports of people living there, hence the increased risks.

Other areas are considered “to pose a risk to safety”:

Signal Hill and Lion’s Head, Noordhoek & Kommetjie Beach, Sandy Bay & Karbonkelberg, Vlakkenberg, Blackburn Ravine, Elephant’s Eye [below, image sourced here], Kleinplaas Dam area, Black Hill and Red Hill, Slangkop, Peer’s Cave and Sunrise Beach.

At this point, you’re probably wondering where the hell isn’t considered risky for a hike. Well, not many:

Currently these include Silvermine East and the Kalk Bay mountains, where there have been fewer reports of incidents of late, while Cape Point, Silvermine West, the Back Table, Orange Kloof and the Apostles remain relatively crime-free at the present time.

The post issues a number of safety tips, but we’ll just leave these two numbers here for now:

021 937 0300 – Metro Emergency Medical Services, who will activate Mountain Rescue, and have the ability to escalate your call to all relevant agencies.

021 480 7700 – Public Emergency Communication Centre, which is central control for reporting crime, on the mountain or anywhere else.

Jot those down somewhere when you head out for a hike. Your phone is good, but that could be nicked, so a piece of paper in the backpack might be advisable.

There is some relatively good news, though. On Saturday, Table Mountain Watch shared the news that “the fifth assailant has been arrested by the SAPS Investigating Officer assigned to the case involving the runners attacked in Newlands Ravine last week”:

For this swift response and for the hard work done during September by TMNP Rangers, we say thank you. Its a thankless task but please don’t let this deter or lessen your resolve.

This will hopefully bring to a close the series of muggings in this area since the start of September. The objective now is to link these criminals to as many of the attacks as possible and to send them away.

They also called for greater community involvement in dealing with the scourge:

The thing with this lot is that they are already wanted for serious crimes and that they were intent on maximum trauma and worse. How do we raise our game to deal with this kind of hate crime?

We are calling for SanParks to appoint a Senior Representative who must report directly to the CEO of the organisation. This person must chair the TM Safety Forum, together with Senior SAPS and City Law Enforcement Officers, TMSAG and other partners. It is way past time…

To people out there who would like to assist and to be part of the solution, we are asking you to please join your local neighborhood watch, a club of your choice or any organisation that has crime fighting or social upliftment on its agenda. This way we can ensure you get the information you need to make better decisions and that your ideas and efforts dont go to waste. It is not possible to always share what we know on public platforms like this one.

We continue to expand the #SafeHike #SafeSummer and other initiatives with hiking and climbing partners and call on other running and cycling groups to launch similar activities. This way we can run more frequent programs that significantly raise the level of safety in popular areas of the Park.

It’s sad that we cannot rely on law enforcement to handle the situation, but they are thinly-stretched and woefully underfunded.

Wherever you hike, and whoever you do it with, please look out for one another. To finish, here are the safety tips via that Mountain Club of South Africa post:

[sources:mcsa&tablemountainwatch]