A French tourist was mugged and stabbed in the neck on Tuesday morning in Chiappini Street, Bo-Kaap.
According to ER 24, the woman, believed to be in her 20s, sustained serious injuries following the stabbing in Schotschekloof.
“When ER24 paramedics arrived at the scene shortly before 11am, they found another medical service along with the police and the fire department already in attendance.
“Upon further assessment, the woman was found lying on the ground and being assessed by the medical service,” said ER24 spokesperson, Ineke van Huyssteen.
Ms Van Huyssteen said the paramedics helped to stabilise the woman before she was taken to hospital for further medical care.
According to the Cape Town Central police spokesperson, Captain Ezra October, the woman was approached by an unknown man.
“The suspect walked in the direction of the victim, approached her and stabbed her several times with a knife,” he said.
Captain October continued: “She then fell to the ground and he took her bag containing books and bank cards.”
Captain October said Sergeant Shane Thomas and Constable Sylvester Mpangele responded quickly to the complaint and on arrival, an opposite neighbour assisted the injured victim applying pressure to her wounds until paramedics arrived on the scene.
He said the police have registered a skeleton case docket on behalf of the victim while she is receiving medical treatment and further statements will be obtained from her at a later stage by Detective Warrant Officer Jeremy Steyn who will be the investigator.
Bo-Kaap resident Tristan Chesselet told the African News Agency (ANA) that he heard a woman screaming for help and went to investigate.
He said neighbours had already rushed to her assistance where she was lying on the pavement, bleeding from the violent attack.
“She was crying, I’m not sure how severe the wound was. Some of our neighbours were already outside. The ambulance and police took 45 minutes to arrive on the scene,” Mr Chesselet said.
The incident was captured on CCTV footage from the camera of a resident’s house.
Mr Chesselet’s girlfriend, Lucy Martin, said muggings are commonplace.
“We have a mugging once a week, several a month. It’s mainly tourists being mugged, mostly during the day, during the week.”
The Bo-Kaap community at-
tracts great numbers of tourists to the city with their rich heritage and colourful homes along the cobbled streets.
Commenting on the incident, Cape Town Tourism said they play an active, supportive role in optimising visitor safety in the city.
“While the primary role in safety belongs to SAPS and local law enforcement agencies, we collaborate where possible to achieve more,” they said.
“The contribution of tourism is significant to the economy and a big challenge for us is the perceptions of safety and incidents such as this are a detriment to the good work done by all relevant stakeholders in the tourism industry. We are monitoring the situation and will provide support where necessary.”
Police will also retrieve video footage to assist in the investigation. SAPS are appealing to anyone with information regarding this incident to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
