Hiker murdered above Kalk Bay this morning

[Wyatt Earp]

Lets just leave it at I still have a bike and he still doesn't.

What was concerning when I thought about it later was despite it being mid afternoon with loads of witnesses around he was still happy to try and nick the bike, that said nobody made any kind of move to help stop him.

 

The world never seizes to amaze.

[Shebeen]

Very Sad RIP Henri

As a matter of interest are bikes allowed to ride in the area of the incident?

It would be interesting to know the stats on muggings in bike and none bike areas.

Regular biking activity in an area helps the good guys that is for sure.

Its about time hikers and runners stop abusing bikers and help us push for us to have access to every trail in CT!!!!!

no bikes allowed there, but no rideable sections in that particular spot anyway. trappieskop is a little peak right above kalk bay harbour - kalk bay and clovelly on either side., the road wraps around it.

There is a jeep track that could be a loop of sorts, but that is about 3km north, and on top of the plateau/mountain (but no riding there).

[Shebeen]

Cape Town - No arrests have been made yet for the murder of an elderly hiker from Fish Hoek on Wednesday morning, Western Cape police said more than 24 hours after the crime.

 

Western Cape police spokesperson André Traut told News24 that there are no new developments and investigations are still underway.

 

According to the Cape Argus, 72-year-old Henri La Cour was stabbed on a hiking trail in Kalk Bay, while his hiking partner, a woman in her forties also from Fish Hoek escaped unharmed.

 

The pair were reportedly attacked by a robber who stabbed La Cour to death and took off with their belongings, including the woman’s wedding ring.

 

The woman managed to escape and alert local residents for help. Police and paramedics arrived on the scene shortly afterwards and a helicopter circulated the area searching for the attacker, reported the Cape Argus.

 

A Kalk Bay resident, who wished not to be named, told the Cape Times that the robber had an accomplice and added that crime is rampant in the area.

 

In the preceding week, 10 people, including two policemen and two security guards, were killed.

 

Tributes from friends and family to La Cour poured in on the Facebook page Fish Hoek Beach.

 

Amanda Joy Lee said: “Gone but not forgotten. Gone home to God. Our deepest sympathy to his family.”

 

Marilyn Coldrey wrote: “One of Fish Hoek’s familiar and respected gentlemen.”

[Tumbleweed]

Cape Town - Four men detained on the mountains above Kalk Bay following the murder of Henri la Cour on Wednesday morning have been released after questioning.

 

Will post a link when the story goes online.

[DJR]

Cape Town - Four men detained on the mountains above Kalk Bay following the murder of Henri la Cour on Wednesday morning have been released after questioning.

 

Will post a link when the story goes online.

 

My first thought was that they probably just rounded up the first 4 homeless people they found anywhere near, without any real investigation or engagement of grey matter. Hope they do better as the case get colder.

[marko35s]

 

My first thought was that they probably just rounded up the first 4 homeless people they found anywhere near, without any real investigation or engagement of grey matter. Hope they do better as the case get colder.

Yeah that is how it felt.

Arrest list so far probably looks a bit like -

Homeless x 4, a troublesome squirrel, a baboon and and old hiking boot.

That said the odds of finding the right person (if that is how you can describe the murdering scum) and any evidence up there cannot be easy.

[Tumbleweed]

[Shebeen]

“Hi All

 

Great meeting last night regarding the way forward with Mugging Incidents on TM and the latest Murder

 

I have been given the Ok by Paddy Gordon today and he is prepared to meet and chat about our concerns and the way forward.. he will give is a day and time for next week

 

Ø We will form a Mountain User group with current user groups

Ø Engage Saps and neighbourhood watches

Ø Aim to engage the Park and to assist the existing Visitor Safety Sanparks

Ø To inform user groups via the forum update on stats

Ø Improve communication re groups and incidents

Ø One Voice with the aim of improving visitor Safety and assisting authorities

Ø Education of users via experience gained and bringing in specialist to assist users and members that patrol

 

 

Members on this e mail to please engage other groups / person they think should be included and we can make a database of the users and contacts

 

Also Robert Vogel.. I did not get his e mail can someone get it or forward this to him

[kandui]

Where in my post I made a call for vigilantism I am not sure. Please point it out to me so that I become more educated in the use of the English language.

The mountain is our recreational space, not a playground for criminals. The mountain is not a place for people to bed down for the night either, there are shelters in town for the homeless.

To me "Occupy Table Mountain" means one thing: We stay and keep using the mountain as we see fit. Run,hike,ride,walk,play. More of us on the mountain, means less space for the criminal to operate.

As for someone saying that I shouldn't use this incident to call for more access for cyclists. Interpret it as you like.

The attack was random. It could have happened in Newlands, Deer Park, Signal Hill or anywhere else on the mountain. My point was that by restricting access , San Parks are also reducing the potential number of eyes and ears in an area.

As a cyclist I don't want unfettered access and I most certainly am not asking for access to "remote areas", which I will call areas where there are hiking footpaths only or the back table, as 2 examples.

 

Cyclists tend to ride early in the morning, when less users are out on the mountain. An area like Newlands Forest at 6am would only have a few people on foot going about their business. What if Newlands was opened to cyclists? You'd have another user group bolstering the numbers at that time of the morning. More eyes and ears.

A cycle patrol is nothing more than someone on his or her bike, being aware of their surroundings and having the ability to communicate suspicious activity to the relevant authority. Same as a hiker or walker would be able dial Parks on his phone and report suspicious activity or an incident.

Eyes & ears open- ability to communicate with an authority: that's what I call a patrol.

More people in certain areas of the park is what I think make sense. Why should cyclists not be part of that?

Unless someone invents a powder that takes away the drive to commit crime (and it's fed into our water system), there is no silver bullet for our crime problem.

Crime on the mountain will happen again, that's guaranteed.

But, in my uneducated opinion, there are certain interventions which can lower the odds of a crime happening:

More rangers on active patrol, roaming the mountain.

Removal of people using the mountain as a place to live.

Open channels of communication with the public (or at least those making an effort to come up with solutions)

Accept outside help, if the offer has merit and will make a difference

Don't downplay the problem at hand.

Edited June 30, 2014 by kandui

[Shebeen]

To me "Occupy Table Mountain" means one thing: We stay and keep using the mountain as we see fit. Run,hike,ride,walk,play. More of us on the mountain, means less space for the criminal to operate.

Definitely not wading into the he said, she said part of this debate. I support all efforts to solve this issue.

 

B U T

I'm not sure if the term 'Occupy' is a good one, mainly because of the Wall street protests. Many similar protests followed on in other cities, all with the name Occupy XXX. The nature of these protests are quite different to what you're looking to achieve here, and I wouldn't bring any association of them to the table mountain campaign.

[kandui]

Definitely not wading into the he said, she said part of this debate. I support all efforts to solve this issue.

 

B U T

I'm not sure if the term 'Occupy' is a good one, mainly because of the Wall street protests. Many similar protests followed on in other cities, all with the name Occupy XXX. The nature of these protests are quite different to what you're looking to achieve here, and I wouldn't bring any association of them to the table mountain campaign.

Cool. Strange that outside of the Hub everyone got the sentiment behind the slogan exactly as I had intended.

We don't need to debate semantics, I think you get the gist of what I am saying.

[Shebeen]

Cool. Strange that outside of the Hub everyone got the sentiment behind the slogan exactly as I had intended.

We don't need to debate semantics, I think you get the gist of what I am saying.

Was just trying to help, do a bit of reading on the intergoogle and you'll see it's a really, really, really bad choice of name.

 

I'm a big fan of irony, so if you could get a fancy bank like Investec or even a hedge fund to sponsor t-shirts for everyone it would be awesome.

[kandui]

How's this for irony: a body was found on Signal Hill Rd today. Police are investigating a murder case. Seems the body might have been dumped there.