Table Mountain’s new safety strategy

By Mishkah Anthony
31 July 2008


The Table Mountain National Park will today announce the launching of their adjusted strategy for safety on Table Mountain National Park to be implemented bi 1 September 2008.

The strategy has the full support of the South African Police Services. Support will also be sought from a number of NGOs, and friends of Lions Head, and friends of Silvermine that are already involved in various activities in the Park.

Coordinator for the visitors safety programme Paddy Gordon says this is not an entirely new strategy; it forms part of a strategy which was decided by the National Park to be adaptive since working together with partners such as South African Police Service.

Paddy says “the adaptive strategy is obviously necessary as crime adjusts to our programme and we are necessarily adjusting to crime. Over the winter months, working very closely with SAPS, we’ve exchanged information, we’ve learnt from each other about crime tendencies and crime vulnerabilities.

The new safety strategy for the coming season will include, the existing 52 members of Table Mountain National Park dedicated to visitors safety, there has been an addition to the parks vehicle fleet, and there are now five patrolling vehicles at Table Mountain Nation Park. There is also an active 24 hours visitor’s centre. The call centre operators have been given training so that they are more familiar with the mountain and place around the mountain. The operators have been given maps so they can respond much more effectively.

Gordon added, “We continue working with SAPS with a completely integrated approach with their forces that are dedicated to mountain safety and we would like to embrace the volunteer action that has taken place in the past.”