Meeting to be held over Groenkloof nature reserve attacks
A high level meeting will be held on Tuesday over recent attacks at the NG Church Hall in Groenkloof.
After the recent attacks that took place at the Groenkloof Nature reserve a meeting to address the problem will be held on Tuesday.
The meeting will be held at the NG Church Hall in Groenkloof on Tuesday 10 May 18:30.
Recently two men were arrested in connection to an attack that happened at the reserve a while ago.
Metro police spokesperson senior superintendent Isaac Mahamba said that two men where arrested ahead of the high level cluster meeting.
“These arrests show that the efforts by the city are yielding fruits already.”
The number of robberies occurring at Groenkloof nature reserve has visitors up in arms.
Taschia Slabbert and her mother were attacked while on a trail hike.
Slabbert went on social media and detailed her story warning people not to visit the reserve.
She said the robbers got away with her camera worth R33 000, phones, jewellery and car keys.
She said the robbers even took their shoes.
“We had to run barefoot to look for help. Feet are even blue,” she wrote.
She was even considering legal action against the nature reserve because she had more photos of her injuries.
Tshwane metro confirmed an attack on two other women at the reserve.
It confirmed the attack was reported on 23 April when two women on a hike were also mugged.
Spokesperson Selby Bokaba said metro staff were deployed immediately after receiving information about the attack.
Bokaba said security at the reserve was stepped up at the beginning of the year, but notices informing visitors to remain vigilant were only posted recently.
“We have posted notices at the entrance of the reserve to inform people to stay vigilant at all times and to call our emergency numbers if they see anything suspicious,” he said.
“Management also put up warning signs inside the reserve to warn patrons of areas mostly targeted by criminals,” said Bokaba.
Bokaba mentioned there was a patrol team on some of the trails working in conjunction with metro police.
Sunnyside police spokesperson Asnath Malatsi said that people were welcome to lay a complaint at the station.
Three weeks ago Saloshani Pather and her partner were also mugged and almost raped at the reserve.
Their in-law Joanne Ekron said Pather and her partner were about 2km into the hike when two men attacked them one Sunday around 15:00.
She said the men held them at knifepoint, took their cellphones and shoes and attempted to rape them.
The men forced the women to the ground and started touching them indecently.
Ekron said the women started screaming and Pather began praying out loud.
“Somehow one of the men who was over Pather pulled back and they ran off, taking Pather’s sneakers off at the same time,” said Ekron.
She said they also walked back shoe-less to seek help.
A petition was sent to Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa urging him to step in.
The petition with more than 2 200 signatures was sent to Ramokgopa last week pleading that he steps in before the situation worsened.
The document says in part: ‘it is clear that if the appropriate action is not undertaken soon, Groenkloof and Klapperkop nature reserves will, like Fountains reserve, be lost to the community or Pretoria’.
A high-level security cluster was established to address the crime, not only in the reserve but also in the residential part of Groenkloof.
Tshwane MMC for economic development and planning, Subesh Pillay, is the man to be spearheading the establishment of the security cluster. He will also be chairing a a meeting scheduled for 10 May to discuss Groenkloof nature reserve security issues.
Attacks at the Groenkloof nature reserve, mostly at knifepoint, have been occuring over the past two years.
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.zaor phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
- We have exciting news! We’re offering a free alert to help you always be in the loop. Send an email with the word ‘Subscribe’ to breakingnews@rekord.co.za to receive your free daily breaking news update
