The City of Cape Town is investigating allegations that a private security company contravened its mandate by instructing people to leave one of its top tourist beaches after dark.
Clifton Beach, with its white sand, sparkling water and backdrop of Table Mountain, is a popular spot. Not even steep steps used to reach the beach and limited parking deter throngs of local and international tourists.
Residents of the upmarket Atlantic Seaboard suburb, where a three-bedroom house can sell for up to R110m, had hired the security company to assist the city’s law enforcement officers maintain “law and order” after a “spate of incidents” in the Clifton and Camps Bay areas, said Richard Bosman, the city’s executive director of safety and security.
“This company’s mandate is not unlike any other; they are meant to be on the lookout for any potential incidents that may require intervention from enforcement services and refer these to [the city’s] law enforcement [officers].
“Closing of the beaches is definitely not something they are empowered to do and we carry no knowledge of such incidents. However, we have been made aware of several potential instances and are investigating these,” he said in a statement on Monday.
The city said if the security company had instructed people to leave beaches it would be acting without authority from the city.