Spike in Fort Klapperkop muggings
The group had stopped at a lookout point when six men jumped out of different directions armed with a taser, gun and knife.
Fort Klapperkop has been plagued by muggings and robberies, with almost 30 attacks reported in the last few weeks.
This is according to ward 59 councillor Shaun Wilkinson who said while the police and Tshwane metro police did routine patrols in the area with private security firms, it was not enough to drive down the number of attacks.
This comes after five young people aged between 19 and 20 were attacked at the Fort Klapperkop area on Friday evening.
The group had stopped at a lookout point when six men jumped out of different directions armed with a taser, gun and knife.
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The men proceeded to intimidate the group and demanded their belongings.
One man was assaulted with a taser until he passed out and another had a gun held up to his head. One woman was pulled out of the vehicle and kicked by one of the perpetrators during the mugging.
The group was mugged of all their possessions, including phones, purses, hats, jackets and shoes.
One of the women’s mother, Elaine Samons said the group went to the Brooklyn police to report the incident and were allegedly turned away and told that it was not their jurisdiction. The young group were advised to report the matter to the Sunnyside police.
Samons said she was upset that the group was not offered any trauma counselling after the ordeal they had suffered at Fort Klapperkop.
“The safety in that area is very poor and I want people to know that it is not safe before any other people go there and also fall victim to these muggings.”
She said they also went to the area in which they were mugged the following day and found a lot of peoples’ belongings discarded, which showed the muggings were consistent – yet nothing was being done to safeguard visitors to the area.
Wilkinson said the bulk of people who were being mugged at the area were not from Pretoria and were oblivious to the safety issue.
He said a request to close the gates at night had been received and the city’s nature conservation department was involved in the matter.
Police spokesperson Captain Colette Weilbach said an internal investigation as to why the complainants were sent away and not immediately helped was underway.
“SAPS officers are not allowed to turn away complainants who want to open cases. They may open cases at any police station; it will be transferred to the relevant police station for further investigations,” said Weilbach.
She said that complainants regarding poor service delivery could be reported to the relief commander, duty officer or station commander and disciplinary steps would be taken against members if they were found guilty of misconduct.
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