Residents resort to petition after robbery at Witfontein

Update

GEORGE NEWS - Fire and security risks at the Witfontein plantation are in the spotlight again after the assault and robbery on two women in November, and now a petition has been initiated to draw the attention of Forestry Minister Barbara Creecy to locals' concerns.

The online petition, 'Save George City', was started by the Camphersdrift, Glenbarrie and Heatherlands (CGH) Neighbourhood Watch and expresses the frustration and anger of George residents over the ongoing poor management of the plantation by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE).

It is a popular recreational area for cyclists, runners and walkers and George Herald has reported on residents' concerns over many years. Several robberies and attacks have taken place here in the past.

Neighbourhood watch member Desireé du Preez said they have been trying for the past two years to have the department take up its responsibility. Their main concern is the crime and attacks on visitors, but also the fire threat posed by the unkept plantation.

They have recently also found several "camps" in the plantation where homeless people have been putting up shacks.

The petition states that the plantation is "as unsafe as Table Mountain and as vulnerable as Knoflokskraal", that it poses a huge fire threat to the city, that it poses an alien invasive plant species threat to the Outeniqua Nature Reserve, and an erosion threat to local freshwater ecosystems.

Shortly after the robbery in November, another neighbourhood watch member, Geert de Decker, wrote in a letter to George Herald that the forest and hiking/cycling trails in the mountain are becoming a no-go area for recreational users. It is "also a tinderbox for the next bergwind-driven fire", he wrote.

"Muggings are becoming increasingly violent. Vehicular access into Witfontein is no longer possible due to major windfalls and flood-damaged roads, severely affecting security and firefighting efforts. Opening roads and cleaning rampant alien undergrowth will reduce both the criminal activities and fire hazard."

He warned that the current fuel load in Witfontein is many times greater than that in the Knysna urban areas prior to the fire of June 2017.

"We, like Knysna, are directly in the path of the prevailing hot bergwind, a massive fan for a fire. Residents alongside Witfontein are currently sitting ducks."

He proposed that the plantation be placed under competent management such as George Municipality and/or CapeNature as soon as possible.

n At a meeting of the Garden Route Environmental Forum on Wednesday 13 December, it was mentioned that the plantation might become an "exit area" to be rehabilitated (as has been done with various exit areas in this region over the past 20 years under a private company's management).

One of the concerns of the Camphersdrift, Glenbarrie and Heatherlands Neighbourhood Watch is that homeless people are putting up shacks in the Witfontein plantation.