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Cape Town danger areas


Evan Andreou

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I recently got a mountain bike again and am keen to check out the trails around Newlands/Rhodes Mem/Blockhouse.

 

Access to Rhodes seems to be around that dodgy park on the other side of the M3.

 

Are there any areas I should be avoiding specifically?

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I recently got a mountain bike again and am keen to check out the trails around Newlands/Rhodes Mem/Blockhouse.

 

Access to Rhodes seems to be around that dodgy park on the other side of the M3.

 

Are there any areas I should be avoiding specifically?

If you are alone, then ride up the tar road that leads to Rhodes memorial. It is usually quite busy. If you are in a group, then ride the single track up from the Rhodes Mem Gate. It is great fun. The path from the M3 footbridge is quite lonely. I stopped using it for that reason after a few incidents there a year or 2 ago. Keep pepper spray with you anyhow.

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Just a warning to those using the MyCiTi route between Paarden Eiland and town.

 

On Monday, 27/01/2020 at 06:20 I was cycling to work. I got onto the MyCiTi cycle lane at Woodstock bridge (Church street bridge). I cycled towards Paarden Eiland (away from town). There is a small hill that leads onto the straight before it goes under the N1. I saw four coloured guys standing on the cycle lane. As I got to them to try pass, they grabbed me and took my bike, backpack and phone. At least one had a knife. As they started dragging my stuff through a hole in the fence I saw another guy come running down the hill towards us. Not knowing if he was coming to help me or them I ran diagonally across the MyCiTi lane towards where I came from and he is coming from. As the guy got closer and passed me he pointed a hand gun at me and I just kept running shouting to please not shoot. I then climbed over the fence onto the busy on-ramp  from Marine drive to the N1. As I got over and these guys where all through the hole in the fence and then I saw the security car come driving past. This makes me believe the guy with the gun was on the hill keeping a lookout for this car and ran down when he saw it coming. DO NOT CYCLE THIS ROUT ALONE PLEASE AS IT IS VERY DANGEROUS. It is such a pity as it is a beautiful new cycle lane that is unusable. 

 

Bike description: Mountain bike, Silverback Vida 4, black colour, hardtail, 29er, large frame, 1 to 10 gear setup, orange seat, about 2015 model, serial number ISB12F1282

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Just a warning to those using the MyCiTi route between Paarden Eiland and town.

 

On Monday, 27/01/2020 at 06:20 I was cycling to work. I got onto the MyCiTi cycle lane at Woodstock bridge (Church street bridge). I cycled towards Paarden Eiland (away from town). There is a small hill that leads onto the straight before it goes under the N1. I saw four coloured guys standing on the cycle lane. As I got to them to try pass, they grabbed me and took my bike, backpack and phone. At least one had a knife. As they started dragging my stuff through a hole in the fence I saw another guy come running down the hill towards us. Not knowing if he was coming to help me or them I ran diagonally across the MyCiTi lane towards where I came from and he is coming from. As the guy got closer and passed me he pointed a hand gun at me and I just kept running shouting to please not shoot. I then climbed over the fence onto the busy on-ramp  from Marine drive to the N1. As I got over and these guys where all through the hole in the fence and then I saw the security car come driving past. This makes me believe the guy with the gun was on the hill keeping a lookout for this car and ran down when he saw it coming. DO NOT CYCLE THIS ROUT ALONE PLEASE AS IT IS VERY DANGEROUS. It is such a pity as it is a beautiful new cycle lane that is unusable. 

 

Bike description: Mountain bike, Silverback Vida 4, black colour, hardtail, 29er, large frame, 1 to 10 gear setup, orange seat, about 2015 model, serial number ISB12F1282

 

This is a known hot spot for getting bike jacked. City Law Enforcement, SAPS, PPA, CoCT have all shown token interest in policing this stretch, but it lasts for maybe a month, and then things revert back to the original order. Best thing would be to avoid that stretch. It's just not worth it in the end. Sorry that you have become another victim of crime, and the cities ineptitude to deal with it.

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I also researched the whole getting access to the port business late last year....just to be met with bullet point 3.6 on page 3/12 on the transnet port access application form lol.

So no love in that department either....unless you sexually identify as an interlink truck with an inclination towards mounting two wheeled cargo....

 

 

post-64325-0-04423600-1580312697_thumb.jpg

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also....a matter of time before someone gets knocked off their bike here in my opinion. That little neighbourhood they have going on down that embankment has grown quite a lot...and ive gone past there once or twice where ive also felt uncomfortable, especially on the way back from long ride and the legs aren't as fresh anymore. You have to go past there fast enough so that they don't really notice you. next step is to just claim the lane lol.

post-64325-0-46778900-1580314954_thumb.jpg

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also....a matter of time before someone gets knocked off their bike here in my opinion. That little neighbourhood they have going on down that embankment has grown quite a lot...and ive gone past there once or twice where ive also felt uncomfortable, especially on the way back from long ride and the legs aren't as fresh anymore. You have to go past there fast enough so that they don't really notice you. next step is to just claim the lane lol.

The City of Cape Town has basically stopped all efforts to address the proliferation of homeless people, and stopped enforcing their own bylaws, which were stupid to start with. They tried fining the homeless, how ridiculous, and got clobbered in the media and the courts over it. Then they simply stopped doing anything about it. No new approach, no alternative plan! So, in the spate of a year, it has spiraled out of control. You now have people, in groups of up to a hundred or more, basically camping permanently in public spaces like parks, on sidewalks and road reserves (De Waal Park, Main Rd Obs, N1 Woodstock / Church Street). Yes, camping with tents, not just makeshift cardboard and plastic structures. The closest ones are within spitting distance of the mayors office. What the rest of us are left with is the mess of rubbish, the **** and the piss all over the place, the harassment, the deterioration of our public spaces. And the crime that inevitably comes with it! This is the one thing I think the City deserves some serious stick for! Muppets!

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I also researched the whole getting access to the port business late last year....just to be met with bullet point 3.6 on page 3/12 on the transnet port access application form lol.

So no love in that department either....unless you sexually identify as an interlink truck with an inclination towards mounting two wheeled cargo....

 

Harbour and terminal not the same place.

Terminal is where the container ships and trucks operate.

I cycle through the harbour with my port access card.

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Harbour and terminal not the same place.

Terminal is where the container ships and trucks operate.

I cycle through the harbour with my port access card.

Also got no problem cycling through the harbour with my access card. 

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Also got no problem cycling through the harbour with my access card.

How complicated to get a port access card? If I own my own business, can I claim that I need access due to the services that we provide to one of the companies based in the harbor? Or would my business need to be a shipping / fishing industry related business?

Edited by ivan888
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How complicated to get a port access card? NOT If I own my own business, can I claim that I need access due to the services that we provide to one of the companies based in the harbor? YES Or would my business need to be a shipping / fishing industry related business? NO

 

You basically need an official company letter stating why you need port access.

 

By voorbeeld: 

As employees of Shaartjie Enterprises we require the necessary permits to enable us to access the vessels from which we carry out our work.

We are also expected to visit fishing industry vessels housed in the port as part of our line function. 

 

The more you blablabla the easier you bull**** them.

 

Don't quote me!

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