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In a media briefing held on Wednesday 13 March at their Newlands Forest operational quarters, the South African National Parks (SANParks) announced that the 2023-’24 tourism season yielded positive results at Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) with more than 1 702 995 tourists visiting the park between December and January.
The most popular tourist attractions in Cape Town included SANParks products namely Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, Cape Point and Boulders. With TMNP being one of their biggest challenges, SANParks and associated partners face a range of elements, including crime and fires on and around the mountain.
Safety & Security
Illustrating the outer and inner workings of these challenges, the park’s manager Megan Taplin touched on the numerous safety and security concerns that piqued ahead of the festive season.
“But thanks to collaboration with key stakeholders and the re-establishment of the Table Mountain Safety Forum, the crime-related incidents affecting visitors dropped significantly from 33 in November to six and one in December and January, respectively,” Taplin reported.
Fire feedback & management plan
During the 2023-’24 fire season, more than 100 fires were reported to TMNP.
Taplin cited statistics of the TMNP’s fire seasons comparing total figures of 77 fires recorded in 2022-’23 versus the latest figure of 106 in the 2023-’24 season so far. She was pleased to announce as of Wednesday, zero lives were lost, no major injuries were reported and only one residential house was lost in the Trappieskop fire during the latest fire season.
Three major fires were debriefed as:
- The Table Mountain fire in January described as “intense and rapid”, in which a vehicle caught fire which spread to the grassy planes and eventually ignited the mountain slopes. “During this fire, the lower cable station had to be evacuated while the top station halted cable trips because of smoke causing visibility issues. But I need to applaud our partners that operated air support with incredible flying thanks to four helicopters, one Black Hawk and a spotter plane. The pilots managed to swoop in tightly to the mountain with water dumps which is extremely challenging depending on windy conditions so close to the mountain.”
- The Trappieskop and Kalk Bay fire during February was classified as intense and rapid with hot temperatures and unpredictable winds leading to increased challenges. “This fire recruited four helicopters and one spotter plain and this is one of a few incidents which shows probable malicious cause.”
- However, the Castlerock or Simon’s Town fire put up a massive fight that stretched over nine days during December and January. “The probable cause here was a cooking fire that got out of control, which led to multiple fires worsened by old vegetation and strong winds. Multiple agencies were activated with this combat, including up to 200 volunteer fire fighters, five helicopters and one spotter plane,” Taplin detailed.
- Most common causes of fires were discussed, with homeless people cited as the most common cause accounting for just under 50 fires; the second highest cause of probable malicious intent ranged between 20 – 30 fires, while negligence was third with 10 incidents. Other causes ranged from religious groups, flare up fires, natural, accidental and unknown sources.
The Western Cape Government’s Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety also recently handed over a drone donation to the park to assist with aerial surveillance and help SANParks rangers during search and rescue operations. “These drones assist greatly in identifying hot areas that require mopping up attention, as well as locating hidden smouldering embers that avoid costly extended attack operations.”
Easter weekend preparations
The Easter weekend will be observed from Friday 29 March to Monday 1 April. “We expect day visitor numbers to increase over this period. Many families use the Park picnic sites to enjoy a braai and the company of friends. Increased numbers of fishermen take to the water over Easter looking for Yellow Tail and Snoek,” observed Taplin.
Easter is also a time of year for religious celebration and the park expects numerous religious groups to visit to pray and rejoice. Along with Family Day celebrated on 1 April, SANParks also anticipates visitors coming for the West Coast Rock Lobster Recreation Fishing open day.
“Rangers and Sea, Air and Mountain (SEAM) Teams will be deployed at all visitor sites as well as in the marine areas. The SANParks helicopter will also be deployed to conduct safety flights and to deploy SEAM Teams and K9s on rapid response operations.”
