{"id":810923,"date":"2025-02-10T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=810923"},"modified":"2025-02-10T11:09:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T09:09:13","slug":"historic-south-african-nature-reserve-ruined-by-reign-of-terror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/810923\/historic-south-african-nature-reserve-ruined-by-reign-of-terror\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic South African nature reserve ruined by reign of terror"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Crime in the Fort Klapperkop Nature Reserve in Pretoria reached such concerning levels that it was forced to implement highly restrictive measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Klapperkop Nature Reserve was established in 1898 and is managed by the Department of Nature Conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reserve is named for the prominent Klapperkop, a hill vegetated with Klapper trees on its northern slopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Klapperkop, one of four forts built around Pretoria, completed in 1897, is inside the 460-hectare nature reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A moat with a drawbridge surrounded the fort, and various heavy artillery pieces were placed inside. However, it was never fully armoured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reserve boasts various game species, including zebra, blue wildebeest, and red hartebeest and small mammals including jackal, mongooses, and hedgehogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, Fort Klapperkop Nature Reserve has been a popular attraction for cyclists, joggers, and sightseers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It provides excellent views of Pretoria, with numerous vantage points and picnic spots where people can enjoy the reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reserve was open 24 hours per day, and many people living in Pretoria would visit it at night to enjoy the views and socialise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Klapperkop Nature Reserve became a crime hotspot, with criminals targeting unsuspecting visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criminals posing as joggers robbed visitors during the day, and occupants of cars were attacked when they stopped to enjoy the views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite interventions like security fence upgrades, installing boom gates, and putting guards at the gates, crime continued to escalate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even routine patrols by the South African police, Metro Police, and private security failed to stem the number of attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2018, multiple criminal gangs were operating<\/a> in the nature reserve and at its peak, there were 30 muggings in two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address the rising crime wave, the Klapperkop Nature Reserve introduced strict opening and closing hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numerous stakeholders agreed that this intervention was needed to regulate and manage the number of visitors and stop the muggins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Klapperkop Nature Reserve also closed access from the R21 Nelson Mandela Drive to further reduce thoroughfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that anyone who wanted to visit the reserve could only access it through the Johann Rissik Drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These interventions helped to control access, but criminals continued to terrorise visitors and cyclists in the reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It reached such concerning levels that the United States Embassy in South Africa warned<\/a> American Citizens about the reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2020, it said there were reports of increased criminal activity at the Fort Klapperkop Nature Reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn recent months, there have been several incidents of a group stopping and robbing hikers and cyclists within the park,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe U.S. Embassy recommends travelling in large groups and exercising increased caution within the reserve or avoiding the area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite numerous additional interventions, the crime continued. In March 2022, two cyclists were robbed at gunpoint on a Saturday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the drastic measures needed to address crime in the Fort Klapperkop Nature Reserve made it a shadow of its former self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visitors can only access the reserve through one gate, and strict visiting hours between 06:00 and 18:00 are observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that citizens can no longer enjoy the fantastic views in the evenings, which is one of the reserve\u2019s biggest attractions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Friends of Groenkloof and Klapperkop Nature Reserves organisation is doing excellent work to revive the area to its former glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It organises numerous events and works to create a safer environment for cyclists, joggers, and visitors to the reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, despite their good work, crime has stolen most of the historic reserve\u2019s allure. The freedom to visit it at all times and enjoy the scenery is gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photos below, taken at 17:30 on Saturday, 8 February 2025, show what South Africans trying to visit the reserve will see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What Fort Klapperkop Nature Reserve visitors should see<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What Fort Klapperkop Nature Reserve visitors see<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Crime in the Fort Klapperkop Nature Reserve in Pretoria reached such concerning levels that it was forced to implement highly restrictive measures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":810933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[21671,21670],"class_list":["post-810923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-fort-klapperkop","tag-fort-klapperkop-nature-reserve"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810923"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":811060,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810923\/revisions\/811060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/810933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}