South Africa’s military is needed to help fight crime on Cape Town’s Table Mountain, a city councillor has warned. Simon Grindrod told the BBC there had been 15 muggings on the mountain, one of South Africa’s most popular tourist attractions, in the past 14 days.
“Table Mountain is under attack. If the mountain is under attack, we are all under attack,” he said.
Last month, the tourism minister warned that high crime could deter visitors coming to the 2010 Football World Cup. “Table Mountain is the second most popular icon after [Nelson] Mandela; it’s the spiritual heart of our city,” said Mr Grindrod, who is in charge of tourism for Cape Town’s mayor. “The military use this vast national park for training so they could step up patrols and join in with game rangers and police,” he said.
Cape Town may attract three million visitors per year by 2010, it is estimated.