Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Premier Ebrahim Rasool has been formally asked to request military assistance to fight crime on Table Mountain.

The request came from the city's Mayco member responsible for tourism, Simon Grindrod, in an "urgent" letter.

This is one of the proposed plans to solve the crime problem on the mountain, an issue which is being addressed in a series of urgent high level meetings that got under way this morning.

Grindrod said in his letter that the logistics of providing effective security to the vast area of the Table Mountain National Park were "stretching both city and provincial law enforcement resources beyond capacity".

"I therefore strongly urge you to consider formally and urgently requesting military assistance from the minister of defence in terms of increased security patrols and visibility in the park.

"The SANDF already use the park for training and I would see this as merely an extension of the existing utilisation of the park by the military.

"The SANDF are permitted in law to support and assist other law enforcement activities when called upon by the competent authority," Grindrod wrote.

Asked to comment on the proposal, Defence Ministry spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi said: "Fighting crime in this country is the constitutional mandate of the police."

But, he said: "In terms of the secondary role of the military, the military can assist any sphere of government or local authority on request."

Meanwhile, the ID has called for the city and the province to release emergency funding by this weekend to boost security patrols in the TMNP.

This call came as the DA denied the ID's earlier allegations that some of its councillors were compromising mountain safety by using the park's request for funding of R45.66 million over four years including R5.4m for visitor safety as "leverage" to wring concessions on controversial pine plantation harvesting.

Tokai ward councillor Leon van Rensburg said pines were a concern, but that the decision to harvest had been taken some time ago by a higher authority.

"What we did ask was for some kind of mechanism whereby residents who were directly affected by the felling are consulted about the future use of those areas."

Van Rensburg said no one had ever suggested that safety on the mountain was being compromised because of delays by the city in approving the park's funding request "not even by the park's representatives when they came to the portfolio committee".

He said safety on the mountain was paramount and confirmed having had individual discussions with park manager Brett Myrdal.

Myrdal met a Western Cape police delegation, headed by two senior officers, at Cape Town Central police station early today. The meeting had not adjourned by the time of going to press.

Another meeting with city councillors and officials was due to take place a few hours later.

The park has invited provincial and city officials to a workshop on September 17 at which safety on the mountain will be discussed.

"We have always maintained that the park, being in an urban area, is a susceptible to crime as any other part of the city," Myrdal said.

The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company chief executive, Sabine Lehmann, said: "We are extremely concerned about these crimes and want to be part of the solution, but it's business as usual for the cableway.

"However, Cape Town's reputation as a safe destination is at stake and that affects everyone in the tourism industry."

Ian Neilson, the mayoral committee member for finance and senior DA leader in the city, also said the issue was not about the city withholding money from the national park.

"But if we fund them, we have to ensure that the park is working in a way that satisfies the people we represent," he said.

Details of the proposed spending by the park needed to be resolved, as did questions of financial responsibility.

For example, it was "very difficult" to justify funding for the park to ratepayers when Cape Town was facing "very critical needs" but some of the park's profits were spent elsewhere in the national park network.

Another concern was the "incredibly high salaries" paid by national parks, Nielson said.

"We can't simply hand money over where we see there are issues around financial responsibility that we don't see as appopriate.

DA councillor for the Simon's Town area Nicky Holderness, who has been pushing the city to fund baboon management, agreed with Neilson particularly around the issue of the park's surplus funds being used in other national parks.

"There may well be one or two councillors (who are using pine tree harvesting as 'leverage') but personally I don't think that's a valid argument. The issue is far broader," Holderness said.

In its funding proposal document to the city, the park states under the heading "Undertakings":

"The Table Mountain National Park agrees to ring-fence City funds exclusively for projects in the mutual interest of the City of Cape Town and the Park."

"What we did ask was for some kind of mechanism whereby residents who were directly affected by the felling are consulted about the future use of those areas."

Van Rensburg said no one had ever suggested that safety on the mountain was being compromised because of delays by the city in approving the park's funding request "not even by the park's representatives when they came to the portfolio committee".

He said safety on the mountain was paramount and confirmed having had individual discussions with park manager Brett Myrdal.

Myrdal met a Western Cape police delegation, headed by two senior officers, at Cape Town Central police station early today. The meeting had not adjourned by the time of going to press.

Another meeting with city councillors and officials was due to take place later.

The park has invited provincial and city officials to a workshop on September 17 at which safety on the mountain will be discussed.

"We have always maintained that the park, being in an urban area, is a susceptible to crime as any other part of the city," Myrdal said.

The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company chief executive, Sabine Lehmann, said: "We are extremely concerned about these crimes and want to be part of the solution, but it's business as usual for the cableway.

"However, Cape Town's reputation as a safe destination is at stake and that affects everyone in the tourism industry."

Ian Neilson, the mayoral committee member for finance and senior DA leader in the city, also said the issue was not about the city withholding money from the national park.

"But if we fund them, we have to ensure that the park is working in a way that satisfies the people we represent," he said.

Details of the proposed spending by the park needed to be resolved, as did questions of financial responsibility.For example, it was "very difficult" to justify funding for the park to ratepayers when Cape Town was facing "very critical needs" but some of the park's profits were spent elsewhere in the national park network.

Another concern was the "incredibly high salaries" paid by national parks, Nielson said.

"We can't simply hand money over where we see there are issues around financial responsibility that we don't see as appopriate.

DA councillor for the Simon's Town area Nicky Holderness, who has been pushing the city to fund baboon management, agreed with Neilson particularly around the issue of the park's surplus funds being used in other national parks.

"There may well be one or two councillors (who are using pine tree harvesting as 'leverage') but personally I don't think that's a valid argument. The issue is far broader," Holderness said.

In its funding proposal document to the city, the park states under the heading "Undertakings":

"The Table Mountain National Park agrees to ringfence City funds exclusively for projects in the mutual interest of the City of Cape Town and the Park."