Drones may help crime prevention

SANparks outlines 17 hotspots

DRONES could be a viable option to assist SANParks’ rangers fight crime in Table Mountain’s 17 crime hotspots, SANParks announced yesterday.

In response to the most recent attack at Noordhoek beach last Saturday, SANParks held a press briefing yesterday morning.

More than 20 crimes in SANParks’ territory have been reported since December, according to a SANParks report released yesterday.

From January 1 to February 21, there have been 26 successful rescue missions, eight crimes committed and one medical emergency. “There are a whole lot of hotspots across the open access parts of the park. There are 17 on our map, and Noordhoek beach and the mountains are spread in those hotspots.

“We are aware of all of them. And we need to cover all those areas because you have an incident in one, and then you put in measures in that area, and criminals (move) into another area.”

He said SANparks had limited resources.

Reynold Thakhali, general manager, said SANparks had four 4x4 vehicles, two motorcycles and five bicycles, 57 rangers and three vacancies available.

“We are having discussions around introducing drones, but it is something we have to address extensively because of the challenges associated with using drones.”

He said people were prepared to make donations. “We are well-resourced in terms of vehicles. There are people who are always prepared to donate. We can respond as quickly as possible. With regards to emergencies, we are always assisted by the city.”

He said crimes on the mountain had become violent.

Gavin Bell, acting park manager, said two arrests had been made after the attack on a family in Noordhoek last Saturday.

He said they were also looking into “strategic planting” of rocks to create safer and more visible paths for mountain users.

Bell attributed the spike in crime on the mountain “to criminals being arrested and then being released again”. He said when tourists were robbed, they either refused to go to the police station or returned to their countries before court processes were complete.

Following the briefing, reporters were taken on an excursion on the mountain for a simulated attack where two rangers posing as robbers re-enacted a robbery, an exercise that looked so realistic that some of the reporters fled.

Reynold Thakhuli, general manager, and Gavin Bell, acting park manager, discuss plans to deal with crime, noting two suspects have been arrested for the recent Noordhoek attack.