The safety of visitors to Table Mountain was the main topic of discussion recently when the CEO of SANParks, Hapiloe Sello, flew down to Cape Town to meet with different stakeholders who often collaborate with SANParks on security matters.

Some groupings have been vocal in their criticism of SANParks and Table Mountain National Park Management about what they deem a gap in securing the mountain.

SANParks says its CEO had individual meetings on Monday, 2 June, with Andre van Schalkwyk from Table Mountain Watch, Nicky Schmidt from Parkscape, Taahir Osman from Take Back Our Mountain, Kenneth Carden from the SANParks Honorary Rangers and Blake Dyason from Love Our Trails.

Sello was accompanied by the Managing Executive for Parks Property Mokoena, Head of Communications JP Louw, Regional General Manager Bongani Mnisi and TMNP Park Manager Megan Taplin.

Head of Communications JP Louw says the meetings were intended to try and start resolving some of the issues of “common interest” insofar as safety and security on Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) is concerned.

Sello emphasised that she was keen to get a deeper understanding of the challenges faced with collaborative safety initiatives and was open to ideas.

“Discussions were frank and constructive, and Ms Sello said that these interactions laid an encouraging base for continued future deliberations to pursue improved collaboration.”

Sello also indicated that efforts will be made to look into actions that could be taken immediately. Follow-up discussions will be held in future.

Take Back Our Mountains (TBOM) Founder Taahir Osman says they are grateful to have been allowed to meet with the SANParks CEO.

He says one of their challenges is with the management of TMNP. Osman has expressed his disappointment that the VSS (Volunteer Visitor Services) initiative, established in 2023, collapsed.

“Two years ago, we highlighted concerns about the operational management of Table Mountain National Park, which has consistently resisted collaborating with us. Despite this, our team has dedicated nearly a decade to the park, conducting 3 to 4 patrols per week. These patrols cover a range of activities, including ensuring visitor safety, addressing bark stripping and snare issues, conducting environmental clean-ups, and organizing programs to bring underprivileged youth onto the mountain, while also supporting surrounding communities through food and donations. Unfortunately, certain park staff have obstructed these efforts, preventing us from fully implementing these initiatives.”

Osman says a number of interest groups, including Take Back Our Mountains, Friends of Table Mountain, Love Our Trails, Table Mountain Watch, Hikers Network, and a number of neighbourhood watches, are currently in discussions on how they can work together to improve safety and security on TMNP.

But he says SANParks should and could do more:

“Like many of the Table Mountain users we are deeply concerned about the rising levels of crime on Table Mountain. We believe the public has a critical role to play in assisting authorities to prevent crime and we are disappointed to see that the VSS (Volunteer Visitor Services) initiative collapsed after a herculean effort by the respective volunteers. We understand the frustrations of those volunteers and believe that SANParks must do more in terms of crime prevention on TMNP. We, as the public are here to help, but the responsibility for park visitor safety rests unequivocally with SANParks.”

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