Increased visitor numbers prompt enhanced safety measures at Table Mountain
The South African National Parks (SANParks) has boosted its presence on the ground with the addition of a new ranger corps and is also rolling out a recruitment plan.
Image: Picture: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers
Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) is heading into its busiest season with more visitors, more rangers and strengthened firefighting capacity — as public pressure mounts over long-running safety and maintenance concerns.
Between April and October, the park recorded 1,708,289 entries, a surge of nearly 20% compared with the same period last year. SANParks says the trend will continue as flights and cruise arrivals climb.
“SANParks is fully prepared to welcome increased visitor numbers to Table Mountain National Park as we enter the festive season,” said SANParks Head of Communications, JP Louw.
TMNP has 157 rangers deployed across the park, supported by the 40-member Sea-Air-Mountain (SEAM) special operations unit. Louw said the unit “was bolstered earlier this year with 24 additional elite rangers and the recent addition of six new operational vehicles”. Drone technology has also been added to support patrols and firefighting.
Crime data released by SANParks shows a marked drop in robberies since mid-year. Louw said robberies “dropped from a spike of 15 cases in March 2025 to single-digit figures between June and November”. Since the SEAM expansion, 17 robberies were recorded from June to November, compared with 37 in the same period last year. Attempted robberies fell from 12 to 8.
SANParks said arrests of repeat offenders in April, May, September and November contributed to the stabilisation of incident numbers. A new Senior Manager for visitor safety and resource protection is set to begin before mid-December.
SANParks helicopter conducts surveillance along the Table Mountain National park.
Image: Photographer: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers
Fire readiness has also been escalated. Louw confirmed the park’s firefighting capacity is fully operational, with helicopter support, ground teams and early activation of the Klaasjagersberg seasonal unit. Aerial resources were brought online in November instead of December.
"The Klaasjagersberg seasonal firefighting unit has been activated earlier than in previous years, complementing the Kloofnek and Newlands teams to ensure rapid response to multiple fire incidents," said Louw. "Aerial firefighting resources have also been brought online earlier, launching in November rather than December as in past seasons."
The operational update comes as SANParks pushes back against the #SaveTableMountain coalition, which has accused the agency of failing to address rising crime, deteriorating infrastructure and declining trail maintenance.
SANParks said it had “taken note of the unfortunate statement” released by the coalition and rejected several claims. Louw said objective records show incidents “have now stabilised to around single digit numbers” and noted that SANParks had “increased our conservation staff by 43% and doubled the SEAM Team”.
On the K9 concerns, he said older dogs were retired or relocated after “an independent assessment of the K9 dogs and handlers”, with plans to secure newly trained dogs.
Louw said SANParks disputes the claim of financial neglect and criticised attempts “aimed at unjustifiably tarnishing SANParks’ reputation”.
Visitors are urged to hike in groups, plan routes, carry water, use tracking apps and save emergency numbers, including the TMNP emergency line: 086 110 6417.
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