Various organisations have come together to make the Rondebosch Common safer following a series of muggings there.
People from all over the city visit the common to walk, run and exercise their dogs, but in April police warned the public to be on their guard there after a 75-year-old woman was mugged and assaulted while walking her dog at 11am (“Police warn about safety on Rondebosch Common,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, April 25).
The perpetrator is still at large, according to Rondebosch police chief Captain Lewis Weston.
The incident followed two muggings in the Rondebosch Common area in January and another one in February.
The Rondebosch Community Police Forum, the Rondebosch Community Improvement District, the Rosebank Neighbourhood Watch, Rondebosch police and private security companies are among those who have now come together to help make the common safer.
Rondebosch CPF representative Kas Chandramohan said security companies were keeping watch during the week as well as on Saturdays during the 5km parkruns, and police had also increased their visibility.
She urged the public to keep visiting the common.
A WhatsApp group, Common Watch, has been started where notifications about the common can be posted.
RCID manager Taryn Galloway said there had been no further crimes reported at the common since the introduction of the new security measures at the end of April, but she also conceded that fewer people were visiting the common in the colder weather.
“Always be vigilant, try to walk or run in groups, try not to have any valuables visible. If you are wearing headphones, perhaps just have them in one ear so that you are able to hear what is going on,” Ms Galloway said, adding that no valuables should be left visible in cars.
Friends of Rondebosch Common chairperson Tim Jobson said it was sad that people should feel unsafe while visiting the common, but the coordination among the various groups to improve safety was helpful.
Captain Weston said the community was acting as the police’s “eyes and ears” for this initiative.
