On Sunday August 4 a female jogger was left injured and bleeding after a rock was thrown at her on a walkway between St James and Muizenberg.
Members of the public chased down and caught the suspect shortly after the incident. According to a post on the Kalk Bay Village Facebook page, members of the public that witnessed the incident conducted a citizens arrest.
According to TimesLive, Kieron Reddy, who was involved in catching the suspect said, “I’m happy that I was one of the citizens that assisted in making this arrest this morning and a big thank you to security and the gentleman dressed in running attire who didn’t let this thug escape from their grip. We need to send a strong message to all thugs. Not on my watch.”
The City of Cape Town is planning to use drone technology to assist in fighting crime and preventing these kinds of incidents. The technology needs to be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) before being rolled out. If approved, Cape Town will be the first municipality in South Africa to use drone technology as a means for fighting crime.
“To our knowledge, there are no other municipalities in the country that are using drones or investigating the use of drones. Cape Town would be one of the first municipalities to undertake such an initiative,” said mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith to IOL.
Staff have already been sent for training. According to JP Smith however, it may be a year before the Mother City will start to benefit from this new initiative. Read: Cape Town to use drones in the fight against crime.
In a bid to combat crime in secluded hiking areas within Table Mountain National Park, a local hiker from Kenilworth has taken the initiative to create a Google map, called Table Mountain Crime Map, for recording crime in the area and preparing those who plan to explore the mountain trails. Also read: Table Mountain crime map for hikers.
The jogger who was attacked was able to positively identify a man from Lavender Hill who was out on bail at the time of the attack.
Image: Facebook/ Ellen Raubenheimer
