Table Mountain Safety

[Caerus]

But are these R20k bikes being sold for R100 to a very uninformed buyer to pay for the next fix, or are these bikes being sold for R1000 to pay for the next fix and have some change, to a more informed buyer? Two very different propositions, for which I don't have the answer, but would like to know.

 

 

I personally think they are being stripped & resprayed, parts fitted to other bikes, or parts swoped around. Parts sold on the hub, gumtree etc. Some will be to order, some will be opportunistic.

 

Ive not heard any stories of guys actually being offered a stolen bike on the side of the road or something, a laptop maybe.

 

Otherwise they end up in the townships, like the one guys Bianchi.

[Guest dhugoza]

I just wanted to add my thoughts on this issue:

 

We should not forget the time when a mugger with a fake gun robbed a few guys a couple of years ago at Rhodes memorial. It turned out to be a guy that camped out and did this. He was caught. Now reading some of the responses again it seems like we have a person or people doing this, it’s calculated in other words.

 

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/police-catch-mountain-mugger-1.368692?ot=inmsa.ArticlePrintPageLayout.ot

 

In my opinion the Police and authorities are unwilling to deal with the issue because they struggle to effectively police the area. They are unwilling to think out of the box and to go the extra mile. It’s much easier to pick up homeless people than to make sure that recreational users of public land are safe.

 

That being said means that we as a community should take a stand and deal with the issue. I would not leave it up the “authorities”, in my experience the “authorities” are more worried about control and pushing down “authority” onto law abiding people than they are worried about catching criminals.

We must not let our fear change the way we enjoy this space, we must not let the mountain become access controlled and monitored, the mountain is a free space where one can escape from the harsh realities of the city etc. so we must be cautious in our suggestions.

 

I suggest that we start up a group that regularly patrols the mountain, we could even host an event where we get as many mountain bikers as possible to ride in a group to show that we aren’t scared and that we are taking back our mountain.

Only if we regularly use the space and only when it’s open to people to enjoy will the criminal element leave, whilst we are scared and whilst we try to do everything alone the criminal element succeeds.

[Caerus]

I just wanted to add my thoughts on this issue:

 

We should not forget the time when a mugger with a fake gun robbed a few guys a couple of years ago at Rhodes memorial. It turned out to be a guy that camped out and did this. He was caught. Now reading some of the responses again it seems like we have a person or people doing this, it’s calculated in other words.

 

http://www.iol.co.za...ntPageLayout.ot

 

In my opinion the Police and authorities are unwilling to deal with the issue because they struggle to effectively police the area. They are unwilling to think out of the box and to go the extra mile. It’s much easier to pick up homeless people than to make sure that recreational users of public land are safe.

 

That being said means that we as a community should take a stand and deal with the issue. I would not leave it up the “authorities”, in my experience the “authorities” are more worried about control and pushing down “authority” onto law abiding people than they are worried about catching criminals.

We must not let our fear change the way we enjoy this space, we must not let the mountain become access controlled and monitored, the mountain is a free space where one can escape from the harsh realities of the city etc. so we must be cautious in our suggestions.

 

I suggest that we start up a group that regularly patrols the mountain, we could even host an event where we get as many mountain bikers as possible to ride in a group to show that we aren’t scared and that we are taking back our mountain.

Only if we regularly use the space and only when it’s open to people to enjoy will the criminal element leave, whilst we are scared and whilst we try to do everything alone the criminal element succeeds.

 

 

Maybe get these thieving bastards to change thier ways by offering them jobs of trail maintanence or as trail guards.

 

Just a thought, maybe turn this into something positive

[flymango]

Can't disagree with either of you Capricorn or Caerus. To conclude from my side, I guess what I'm suggesting is that we should not only be thinking about showing presence and vigilance out there on the trails, but we also need to make it difficult to dispose of the stolen goods. I know the latter is near impossible to do, but some thought should go into it.

[Caerus]

Can't disagree with either of you Capricorn or Caerus. To conclude from my side, I guess what I'm suggesting is that we should not only be thinking about showing presence and vigilance out there on the trails, but we also need to make it difficult to dispose of the stolen goods. I know the latter is near impossible to do, but some thought should go into it.

 

 

They were recently setting up sting operations in the Netherlands with tracking units(gps)in the bikes to combat this and get to the ring leaders.

 

No such luck for our cops to initiate something.

[Bos]

I think one thing in our favour is that its happened in that one corner a couple of times. If we could check out that area between 9 and 11 on the weekends, Im sure we will eventually find something.

 

 

PS.Also what about a Wistle? one can hang it around your neck, maybe hear it a km far away? the oldays they used it..

[schmoose]

Hey

 

I've been riding the mountain for years on my own, and commuted via the block house for 3. About 4 years back there was a spate of attacks which really worried me. There were a bunch of guys living in the cave and around deer park that would rip some stuff on their way to town.

 

About a year ago i noticed lots of folk were again starting to sleep on the mountain, a hotspot is just below the restaurant at rhodes. Suddenly theres another spate of muggings.

 

I reccon its the guys on the hill, remove them and the problem will go away.

 

I'm all for a group ride, just let me know where and when.

[Guest dhugoza]

Yes, I've also been riding there for years and as I said, the exact same pattern emerged 4 years ago.

[kandui]

Thanks for replying. I don't mind meeting up this weekend when it's still fresh on everyone's mind. Anyone keen can email me on zulurob@iafrica.com

We could meet at Rhodes Memorial at 9am and do a ride up to the Blockhouse and back. Show presence for 2 hours. Let me know.

[kandui]

I want to speak to SAN Parks and SAPS to see what resources they are prepared to commit, if we as the community are going offer our help. Regular patrols are a good idea and I may ask for permission to do vehicle patrols as well and get keys for the boom at De Waal Drive and Tafelberg Road.

 

I will check the CPF website and see that there is a space to log all incidents on the mountain for now.Perhaps a more formal website can be set up after that. Very Important: an incident will not form part of the statistic unless a case is opened with the Police.No matter how small or whether the suspect got away and you remained unharmed and nothing was taken, it is important to make the effort and give up the time to open a docket. That way SAPS can't say there is nothing happening on the mountain. They have to acknowledge the case opened.

There is a Crime Forum meeting every Thursday morning at 8am at Caledon Square,open to the Public for those interested in statistics. All reported cases are marked on a map of the CIty Bowl and there is a sections for "Crimes on Table Mountain" which is read out by a Detective.

[leet22]

The police are a waste in that type of terrain. They need the army up there. A few years ago there was a few house break ins in the Constantia area and when they were finally caught they were ex military from one of our neighbors. The army has the skills to track them and find them.the poor coppers are out of their depth. Find your self a few ex 32 bat's to help, problem will go away soon. A lot the ex 32 bat guys are unemployed after they were disbanded. maybe its a away to get them some work

[Guest dhugoza]

I want to speak to SAN Parks and SAPS to see what resources they are prepared to commit, if we as the community are going offer our help. Regular patrols are a good idea and I may ask for permission to do vehicle patrols as well and get keys for the boom at De Waal Drive and Tafelberg Road.

 

I will check the CPF website and see that there is a space to log all incidents on the mountain for now.Perhaps a more formal website can be set up after that. Very Important: an incident will not form part of the statistic unless a case is opened with the Police.No matter how small or whether the suspect got away and you remained unharmed and nothing was taken, it is important to make the effort and give up the time to open a docket. That way SAPS can't say there is nothing happening on the mountain. They have to acknowledge the case opened.

There is a Crime Forum meeting every Thursday morning at 8am at Caledon Square,open to the Public for those interested in statistics. All reported cases are marked on a map of the CIty Bowl and there is a sections for "Crimes on Table Mountain" which is read out by a Detective.

 

It's voter registration this weekend, but its a good idea

[Capricorn]

are those maps of the city bowl available for all and sundry?

I made that suggestion earlier about a google maps approach to logging the location of crimes committed on our bike trails. Turns out the brits have a sort of national version,albeit not working that well. Irrespective of the current difficulties, it does exist, and it's useful.

 

Police local crime maps are knocked offline

There goes the neighbourhood

By David Neal

Tue Feb 01 2011, 15:35

 

THE COPPERS local crime stats websites have fallen over under the strain of people checking to see how bad their neighbourhood is.

 

The websites, which launched today, were supposed to inform local citizens about what is going on in their areas, including what crimes had been committed and how they were being investigated. That was the promise, anyway.

 

Of course this sort of ghoulish voyeurism has been popular in the UK ever since we used to stand around in groups watching criminals being hanged, so it should have come as no surprise that such websites would be popular amongst Internet users and people who should be working and not worrying that their house might be being burgled.

 

Apparently it is a surprise, though, to someone at the Home Office, or whoever it was that was in charge of the program, as they may not have done much load testing in the runup to launch.

 

We heard about the service early this morning and of course checked the local listings, however as early as 11:00am the website was spinning and showing us not much more than the search box and the postcode we had typed into it.

 

This means that, as far we know, without opening our front doors or turning on the television, World War III could be taking place in our local neighborhood.

 

The reality is far removed from what the Home Office promised earlier when it said that "a quick post code search" was all that was necessary. We introduced a local dog, who fits seven years into one of our human ones, to the webpage, and even our local dog thought that the load time when we searched on our post code was excessively long, as he lost interest and started licking himself.

 

Since then the Home Office has tweeted that despite the slow progress we should cancel all other plans and just wait for its virtual crime map to arise dripping from the swamp of bureaucracy into life.

 

"Hugely popular #streetlevel crime maps getting 75,000 hits per minute so you might experience delays. Keep trying," it tweeted some five hours ago.

 

Any rumours that coppers in the metropolitan area are investigating the brazen theft of a large number of government web servers are unfounded. µ

[maddog]

I am sure all of us would like to kill these okes but then we end up in prison for taking the law into our own hands. It is so obvious that when a patrol van or park rangers are in the area they won't make a move but what if the police are under cover cops acting to be cyclists. They are fully trained and carry guns and they are the law so why is this not even happening?

[Bos]

Table Mountain Watch: TM a complete “No Go” area ??

2 Feb 2011 | Source: Table Mountain Watch

 

Another series of attacks on the mountain!! In the last two weeks we have seen attacks in the Karbonkelberg (attempted rape), Platteklip and Blockhouse areas.

 

The nature of these attacks has escalated somewhat and people are now being injured in the process. The

Karbonkelberg incident, for example has prompted the Hout Bay Community Police Forum (CPF) to declare it a complete no-go area, warning all Hout Bay Neighbourhood Watch members to stay away. Sandy Bay falls into the same category.

 

Do we now add Rhodes Mem / Blockhouse to the list? Do we start to see parts of the mountain in the same way we see the Cape Town Station Deck – which JP Smith loves to use as an example of a much higher priority area for Metro and SAPF resources?

 

When do we shut down the mountain completely?? I’m not sure this is such an extreme concept anymore. I have to think very carefully about where I want to take my family for walks these days. What about you?

 

Press comments by various members of Table Mountain National Park beg further comment. While we believe these people to be hard working and diligent, they are short staffed and lacking in the fundamental skills of policing and apprehending criminals of this type on this terrain.

 

SECURITY ON THE MOUNTAIN IS NOT “ADEQUATE”.

 

This is the usual RSA “What crisis?” response, trotted out by those we have appointed to do

the job. Security should not be “adequate” at this time. It should be much, much more than just “adequate”.

 

SANParks itself is hugely quiet on the matter, preferring to leave all communication, strategy and action to TMNP. Or not? We can only speculate in the communication vacuum they love to maintain. In the Kruger Park (extraordinary) forces have been brought to bear to deal with Rhino poachers. What’s the difference here?

 

We have access to statistics (diligently collated by a friend of the action group over the years) that go way back to the year 2000. From these one can determine that had TMNP (and SAPF) focused on 4 areas – primarily – up to 75% (!!) of all attacks could have been prevented.

 

Simple analysis of the data on an ongoing basis would have revealed this much earlier. Why then the ongoing reference to “it’s a vast area” ?? A concerted focus – that is visible policing as well as covert observation posts – in these areas will rid us of most of the problems.

 

Which areas are these:

 

Sandy Bay, Lions Head, Blockhouse, Skeleton. Of these, in more recent times (2010), Sandy Bay and Blockhouse have recorded more incidents than Skeleton and Lions Head.

Newlands Forest and Celia Forest are also areas to be very careful in.

 

Soon we should declare the stretch from Skeleton to Blockhouse a no go area. Add Sandy Bay and the Karbonkelberg. Still a “vast” area left I guess – so who cares. Let’s just hand these areas over to criminals

and vagrants. Yes? I hope not.

 

Source: Andre from Table Mountain Watch

[Mushilele]

I read in the Cape Times article (front page, top, yesterday) that the one cyclist refused to press charges when the police nabbed the 'alleged' assailant. What is it with making a complaint to the police, the police doing their work and then the felon gets away because the victim didn't want to go further with the complaint?