Female hikers targeted at Kloofendal Nature Reserve

The urge to be healthy and live an active lifestyle is one many people share, especially after the cabin fever and unhealthy eating habits that came with the lockdown last year.

For residents in and around the Kloofendal area, the free entry to the Kloofendal Nature Reserve presented the perfect opportunity to get in some exercise while also admiring the stunning flora and fauna. However, this ecological wonderland has left a few women feeling unsafe after two weekend muggings were reported on the reserve’s hiking trails.

The reserve has received two written reports of muggings on the Yellow/ Rocky Ridge trail where women (walking alone or in a small group) were held up by a man with a knife while walking down the last long ‘staircase’ on the western side of the reserve.

The first incident occurred at approximately 2pm on Sunday, 28 February and the second on Saturday, 6 March at approximately 4.30pm. Between the two confirmed muggings, a cell phone, shoes and a watch were stolen. A third mugging was reported on Facebook, but this incident has not yet been confirmed.

Infuriated by the afternoon attacks, Ward 85 councillor Sonja Meyer and Friends of Kloofendal (FroK) have been working together with Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) to gather as much information as they could and hopefully find a solution.

Sonja made contact with JCPZ soon after she was notified about the incidents, requesting measures to ensure visitors’ safety, one of her recommendations being, introducing more stringent security measures, especially at the entrance of the reserve.