The unique natural scenery during the ascent to the top of Table Mountain in South Africa can become an unpleasant experience. Assaults, injuries, lost tourists, and rescue missions have become routine during its climb. In response to the increasing danger, a movement was formed under the leadership of Taahir Osman to help keep the mountain safe for all its visitors.

Taahir started trekking as a child thanks to his parents. However, as a person of mixed race, he faced significant discrimination during the apartheid era when strict racial segregation was enforced. After its end in 1994, Table Mountain also opened to everyone without distinction, serving as an island of calm and relaxation for the successful businessman.

However, the situation gradually worsened from 2018, with an increase in assaults at the foot of the mountain, and relaxation became difficult to speak of. One such story, which ended with nine of his friends being stabbed, was the last straw for Taahir.

After this horrific incident, he founded the Take Back Our Mountains (TBOM) initiative, guided by a seemingly banal idea – strength in unity. The movement brings together several thousand volunteers and, in addition to classic treks, also organizes clean-up events and monitoring of Table Mountain park areas.

It includes a connected channel where people share current information and suspicious phenomena. Cooperation with the official state organization SANParks – South African National Parks, is in everyone’s interest, as their numbers slightly exceeding 120 employees are realistically unable to take care of the total park area of 210 square kilometers.

Up to the Mountain

The protected Orange Kloof area is part of the Cape Floral Kingdom, and its like is hard to find anywhere else in the world, as confirmed by its inclusion on the UNESCO list and special classification outside the Afrotropic region. We’re lucky, as obtaining permission for such a trek would take individuals without a guide several days.

We set out in the unfriendly, damp morning to the agreed meeting place at the foot of the mountain while it’s still dark. It’s unexpectedly busy, and we recognize individual trek participants by their sports clothing among all the people. Everyone keeps to their pandemic-defined personal space, so we just nod conspiratorially at each other. Soon, Taahir Osman steps in front of us and begins the briefing. After measuring everyone’s temperature, we slowly start trudging up the hill.

Looking at our group of about twenty people, Taahir notes that normal numbers are around fifty, with hundreds of enthusiasts participating in sports events here. They reportedly counted over 400 heads at one event.

Politics behind everything

Even in South Africa, opportunity makes the thief. Only here, they’ll definitely be armed. The vast majority of assaults are cowardly and targeted at those who are unlikely to defend themselves. However, it’s important not to underestimate the desperation of people who resort to such a source of livelihood. Even the worst phone or watch is still more than what many earn in a whole month.

After all, it’s said today that the battle in South Africa is no longer between whites and blacks. Poor versus rich is the trend for the twenty-first century.

“One of my colleagues was trekking on a foggy morning not far from here,” Taahir recounts. “It didn’t take long before two guys in front of him were pulling out knives. But they didn’t realize that the leader had a herd of fifty tourists behind him. The thieves took to their heels in an instant.”

Parts of the park located near the ocean also face problems with poaching, and locals often resort to assaulting passersby simply to discourage unwanted witnesses. Taahir is well aware of these problems, so he tries to make trekking accessible even for the youngest. The TBOM movement organizes events for children and communities from the Cape Flats plain, which is historically the most problematic place plagued by high drug crime and gang wars. Trekking could be a good alternative to steer children somewhere else, upwards.

Taahir laughs when we tell him that we found contact with the TBOM movement in a discussion under a crime news article. He notes that he finds the situation in Cape Town absurd.

Statistically, assaults in this national park are only a minor problem compared to crime in poorer suburbs (townships), which would hardly be written about in the news. As in other countries of the world, excluded regions don’t attract attention in the news, and people are resistant to their problems. The only thing that can attract attention is then a poor tourist in flip-flops and without a phone.

The situation is also often complicated by elections, before which politicians traditionally lure residents of rural regions with promises of money, work, and fame in the city. After casting their ballot, the vast majority of people end up in inglorious townships and often in a hopeless situation.

Guide’s nightmare

When we stop under the cable car beam, a disparate group of tourists catches up with us and asks for directions. Three ladies with backpacks, still covered with Turkish Airlines stickers from the plane, are accompanied by three young men who are competing to impress the ladies with their climbing technique. A few meters below us, the last member of the expedition appears in a cowboy hat and sneakers, puffing heavily. Although he belongs to the male part of the expedition, it looks like he won’t be impressing anyone today.

When Taahir advises them on the best way up, he prophetically adds that they should be careful, move slowly, and stick to the trail, or they’ll have a really long day.

“Such a group is every guide’s nightmare,” he explains to us. “People without preparation, equipment, and basic knowledge set out on a climb they consider an afternoon walk. But it often stretches into the night.”

The accessibility of trails varies depending on the weather, which is very changeable. The wind often reaches speeds at which helicopters can’t take off, or the cable car has to be stopped.

We meet the group again about an hour later where the paths join in a narrow ledge just below Table Mountain. There’s no sign of the weakest member of the expedition, and the others from the group are breathlessly silent. Apparently, he stayed somewhere behind. Taahir rolls his eyes and declares that the way back is usually more dangerous than the way up.

At the top, Taahir’s colleagues report that someone is trying to wave for help about halfway along our route. His cowboy hat was good for something after all. The helicopter can’t take off due to strong winds, with luck the rescue team will reach him in three hours. The next day, we finally get a message that the exhausted and dehydrated tourist was found late at night.

Table Mountain is a beautiful piece of nature, the view from its peak takes your breath away. Anyone who visits Cape Town and doesn’t climb it might as well not have been there. The mountain has a strong, active, and friendly community that takes care of it and has done a great deal of work in a relatively short time to return it to all people.

If you decide to visit this unusual place, it’s no problem to contact anyone from the TBOM movement and join one of their activities.