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With the COVID-19-induced restrictions a thing of the past, Cape Town’s tourism industry has a familiar foe to battle – crime.

Most of us Saffas have been there, done that, and been robbed of the T-shirt, but The City of Cape Town is hoping tourists don’t end up with the same treatment.

The usual flow of overseas visitors is gaining momentum again after two years of pandemic struggle and the Mother City, in particular, is needing to gear up for all the tourists that are expected this summer season.

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has been focused on attracting more overseas tourists and their high per-day spend, but he is aware of how safety and security concerns may keep them at bay.

In his opening speech at Africa Tech Week, he promised a few ways to address these security concerns, emphasising that the safety of visitors would be prioritised, reported Business Insider:

“We’re going to increase our deployment [of law enforcement officers], I want to make that commitment today. In the tourist hotspots, like the Bo-Kaap, like the Green Point park, and Sea Point pavilion, we’re going to have to do a focused tourism law enforcement deployment over the peak season… and we are going to do that.”

As a result, 100 officers were introduced to crime hotspots in Cape Town’s CBD, including the Grand Parade, Station Deck, St Georges Mall, and Long Street.

The city is also hoping to employ more cutting-edge technology to keep everyone safe.

This will come in the form of drone technology and aerial surveillance above the skies of the city, according to Hill-Lewis, including mountain paths and the hiking trails on Table Mountain.

IOL has more:

This isn’t constant surveillance, but rather aerial drones about 3km above the city which can be called to the scene of police action.

The size of the drone fleet is unclear, but they will enable high-resolution video day or night and can reportedly be deployed to anywhere in the city within minutes.

The mayor describes this as a “game-changer for officers on the ground”, as they will be able to view a live stream of the scene on their phones.

Maybe I’ll take advantage of this potential window of safety over the summer and hike without constant anxiety. Sounds nice.

[sources:businessinsider&iol]