Melville hiking group robbed

The mugging took place during a guided tour of the koppies at about 5.40pm on Sunday, Northcliff Melville Times reported.

Westdene Community Patrol’s Bradley Dew said the party had been walking inside the reserve towards the Mark’s Park entrance in groups of two (10 men and 10 women) when one of the groups was confronted by three men said to be in their 20s.

Dew said the men’s group had been mugged first at gunpoint.

“The second group saw what was happening and ran back. The assailants then ran after them. Only one of the fleeing group members was caught, assaulted, and robbed. The robbers then fled the scene and ran toward the Melville Koppies West,” said Dew.

CSS Tactical Response and the police later arrived at the scene.

Ward 87 councillor Amanda Forsythe said she was aware of the matter.

“The ward will call a meeting with the Melville Koppies Association, the Melville Sector Crime Forum, police, JMPD and the City Parks Rangers to ensure better policing and security on the koppies,” said Forsythe.

Melville Koppies chairperson Wendy Carstens said: “The CSS tactical response was tremendous. They were very effective once they’ve been alerted. We are going to provide all future walks with armed security escorts. The funding for this will be coming from volunteer donations to the koppies.”

Incidents of people being robbed while hiking have been reported around the country.

In June last year, two people were allegedly mugged at gunpoint while hiking up Slangkop Mountain in Kommetjie in the Western Cape.

In a separate incident, a mother and her two daughters were robbed on the Port Edward hiking trail in KwaZulu-Natal. No arrests were made.

– Caxton News Service