Determined Table Mountain guide faces fears and returns to work a week after mugging ordeal

On Monday morning last week, mountain guide Brinny Ridgway and her tourist friend from the US were robbed by a man wielding a knife on the Kasteelspoort hiking trail on Table Mountain. 

It was the latest in a spate of muggings within the ranges of the National Park. 

However, Ridgway refused to give in to fear and has resumed leading hiking tours, from which she earns a living. “It helped me get the monkey off my back,” she told Daily Maverick after returning to work following the attack. 

Ridgway educates tourists about Western Cape fynbos and other flora and identifies important landmarks during her tours.

The 56-year-old guide said “interpretive guiding” is a very important part of her job and that it would take “more than being mugged [for her] to give up” on her vocation, which she says has defined her life.  

“This job is a very healthy job and you shouldn’t get stressed — but now it’s starting to get stressful. However, it’s the most wonderful job in the world, that constantly keeps giving back,” said Ridgway. 

“Hence, I work to be remembered as someone that loved to share nature, open people’s eyes and change lives.”

Following the attack, Ridgway took a few days off to recover and rest. She and her husband Peter Ridgway also used the time to hike back along the popular Kasteelspoort route where the knife attack took place.

Brinny Ridgway with her husband Peter Ridgway at Lion's Head hiking trail, on 12 December 2023. (Photo: Ziyanda Duba)

‘Tired of living in fear’ 

A group of Hikers on Lion's Head, within the ranges of Table Mountain National Park on 12 December, 2023. (Photo: Ziyanda Duba)

SANParks, which has been under scrutiny following the spate of muggings, outlined its festive season safety and security plans for Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) during a media briefing on Wednesday.

The TMNP Safety and Security Forum, which includes SANParks, SAPS and the City of Cape Town (COCT), has been resuscitated and is meeting regularly to coordinate its plans and operations.

“The forum has already proven valuable for the purposes of streamlined and optimal deployment of resources to target crime and share intelligence aimed at informing operations,” said SANParks managing executive Property Mokoena.

“Since the start of the festive season campaign there have been six successful arrests of multiple suspects through joint operations of SANParks, SAPS and CoCT enabled through the TMNP Safety and Security Forum.

“Another collaborative effort which will result in additional physical presence is the deployment of about 70 Tourism Monitors supported by the Department of Tourism. These monitors are intended to deploy on 15 December 2023,” said Mokoena.

SANParks has 112 rangers working in the TMNP and has advertised 20 vacant positions, including nine field rangers, six section rangers, one senior section ranger, two field ranger sergeants, one liaison officer and one information officer.

TMNP manager Megan Taplin said the park is primarily open access and offers easy access.

“You can literally enter the park from hundreds or thousands of entry points across the city,” she said, adding that this makes it accessible to “less desirable elements as well”.

Taplin said that the park’s “proximity to the urban edge poses safety risks as social crimes perpetrated in the adjacent urban and residential areas spill over into the protected area”.

“These crimes include theft out of motor vehicles, theft of vehicles, muggings and contact crime and land encroachment. Easy access to the park and escape routes work to the advantage of criminals seeking high-value goods from visitors,” she said.

• Download Buzzer on your phone for emergencies


• Report suspicious behaviour or even fires being set


• Always be aware of your surroundings


• Tell someone reliable where you are going


• Leave valuables at home


• Know your access and escape routes


• Avoid known dangerous parts of the mountain


• Travel in groups


• Know emergency numbers