Seemingly no additional safety measures were implemented to protect people after the unsettling increase in the number of serious attacks on hikers, beach-goers and cyclists in and around Cape Town over the last few months, so it was only a matter of time before one of the attacks would eventually claim a life, says Dr Corné Mulder, Western Cape leader of the FF Plus.
Dr Mulder expressed his condolences to the next of kin of the 56-year-old man that was stabbed to death on Sunday while he and his wife were hiking on a trail above Muizenberg. The woman was also injured.
According to Dr Mulder, the response by the Western Cape Premier, Ms Helen Zille, to a tweet by the Protea fast bowler, Dale Steyn, (Die Burger, 29 January 2018) in which he asked the Premier what is being done to combat crime in Cape Town, is equally upsetting.
“Just like with the water crisis, she won’t accept any responsibility and merely shifts the blame, saying that the government undertook to have the army patrol dangerous hiking trails in the so-called “red zones”.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that this political game of recrimination and the fact that no action was taken have contributed to a hiker being murdered. If the hiking trails above Muizenberg and Kalkbaai, where nine hikers were attacked with knives just a few weeks ago, were being properly patrolled, this would probably not have happened.
“Compare this to Cape Town’s extremely effective system comprising parking attendants and other traffic law enforcers that issue fines even after midnight if people did not park in the allocated parking areas.
“The same ardent approach needs to be followed to ensure hikers and other people’s safety. It is not acceptable to simply point fingers and shift the blame,” says Dr Mulder.
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