Cape Town hatches plan to reclaim Signal Hill
25 April 2008A plan has been launched in Cape Town to reclaim Signal Hill for tourists.
Signal Hill is one of the South African city's premier tourist attractions, offering panoramic views of Table Bay, Robben Island and the rest of Cape Town.
For the past four years, however, tourists have only been able to enjoy the site until 21:00 after criminals began to target the area.
A plan has now been launched involving city authorities, two private security companies and the Table Mountain national park to make it safe for Signal Hill to be open until 01:00.
The initiative could lead to the establishment of a 'tourism police' unit, similar to the kind used in major cities such as Singapore and Cairo.
Simon Grindrod, Cape Town's mayoral committee member for tourism, said: "The public and private sector have today sent a strong message that they will not surrender prime tourist attractions to criminal elements."
Travel insurance is an important provision for many people visiting South Africa as the country suffers from high levels of crime in major locations such as Cape Town and Johannesburg.