Since my last update our comfort zone has been rattled in no uncertain terms. The increased security personnel that council committed to the Groenkloof reserve has had the unfortunate but not unexpected consequence of displacing the criminal element into the Klapperkop reserve with three very serious incidents. Late afternoon on the 28th May a lady mountain biker was attacked on the trails near the R21 in the Klapperkop reserve she was assaulted, threatened with rape and her bike plus equipment stolen. It's important to note that she was only separated from her cycling companions for an instant which was all that was needed for her 4 assailants to launch their attack. Their modus operandi was very similar to those of Taschia and Saloshani's attackers in Groenkloof. We swept the area that night as well as the squatter camp below Unisa, which I am happy to report has been completely cleared of squatters. Unfortunately nothing was found but they felt our presence. On the 9th June a male mountain biker was robbed of his bicycle and equipment in Groenkloof at about 17:00, to date I have no information on what the response was from Metro Police if any, which is very concerning considering the amount of resources allocated to the reserve by council. To be fair we have yet to hear from council in this regard and I will report back as soon as I have their response. On Saturday the 18th June at 6:30am a road cyclist was attacked in Klapperkop on the road climb just before the first viewpoint riding up from the R21. The first attacker knocked him off his bike with a second assailant approaching him from behind. He managed to punch the first attacker to the ground but when he was attacked from behind by the now rock wielding second attacker he surrendered his bike and phone and ran towards Graham de Lange from Hi Risk Unit who was patrolling the trails near the R21. Within minutes the area was flooded with Hi Risk vehicles and personnel who set about searching for these assailants with cooperation with SAPS. Two were arrested by SAPS still in possession of the phone and a third one was arrested in the Salvokop squatter camp a short while later. The bike was also recovered where they hid it in the Klapperkop reserve, frustratingly it was meters away from where the community searched on Saturday afternoon. Clearly there are two tales here after the attack on the lady in Klapperkop the community, Hi Risk and SAPS were on high alert, so I was not surprised that the response was immediate and that's why they were caught. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Groenkloof safety initiative so we have some work to do improve this and we should be using the Klapperkop process as a template. Reading this update back to myself it doesn't have a positive feel to it but step back for a moment these are things we have achieved to date. 1. Council are committing resources to make Groenkloof safer and they are meeting with us on the 22nd June to discuss a coordinated approach to the entire area (Voortrekker Monument, Freedompark, Fountains, Groenkloof and Klapperkop reserves). However, whilst I feel I am sufficiently mandated by means of our petition to discuss safety issues I get the sense that the discussions are going to touch issues regarding the development of the area for which I am not properly versed to do justice to the needs or views of the community. So if you are part or know of a residents / homeowners association that borders any of these reserves please get them to make contact with me so that we can discuss the way forward and hopefully mandate FGNR to spearhead our discussions. 2. Thanks to Metro, Hi Risk Unit and SAPS the squatter camp below Unisa has been cleared a huge step forward in making the area safer. 3. We have caught 3 suspects of a gang of 4 who by their own admission have been operating in the area for some time but we'll only know for sure if we can get them convicted. To do this I appeal to anyone who has been attacked in Groenkloof and surrounds during the last 12 months to contact your investigating officer, Col Pieterse or myself to see if you can identify any of these three as your attackers. A positive development is the fact that Col Pieterse has established a dedicated team to investigate these crimes regardless of the jurisdiction in which they occurred. Despite the setbacks mentioned above and the unfortunate cost to the victims I truly believe we are making progress and we have some solid proposals to make to council as to how we can enhance the safety of the entire area. It is going to take effort and commitment from all parties and to those who have suffered attacks and are a bit reticent in coming forward to identify these guys, just remember that knowing whether they did it or not will tell us whether we have them or whether we still need to get them. It might help you to know that the chap we apprehended this time last year at viewpoint 1 in Klapperkop was sentenced last week to 15 years in prison. The wheel is slowly turning in our favor.