Members of the Angling community say safety is a major concern on the popular fishing beaches, Macassar and Monwabisi. This comes after a well-known angler and off duty police sergeant, Jacques Joubert, 38, was attacked and robbed on Thursday by two unidentified suspects. Joubert sustained two stab wounds and remains in recovery at Kuils River Hospital.

Co-editor of the Cape Town Rock, Surf and Fishing Facebook page, Irshaad Amirodien said Joubert voluntarily patrolled the beach to ensure the safety of anglers. He was known in the angling community as ‘Monwabisi cop’.

“We always have to watch our back out on the beaches. Criminals watch us from behind the dunes. Our fishing equipment is expensive. We have become targets,” Amirodien said.

The incident went viral on social media. On Friday morning, more than 70 000 facebook users already viewed the post. Amirodien said the safety of anglers has become a great concern.

“We appealed to local government for assistance in providing safety on beaches for anglers but we’ve not receive any response yet. Macassar and Monwabisi beach doesn’t have secure parking for us so often we have to break the rules and park on the beach to ensure our cars and equipment are safe,” Amirodien added.

They’ve noticed a decreasing number of anglers in recent years due to the unsafe environment on beaches.

“We managed to secure a meeting with local government and the Department of Fishing and Forestry at the Muizenberg Civic Centre three weeks ago but with little support from the angling community,” Amirodien further explained.

He hopes a new initiative can change the current downhill trend in angling. The initiative, through means of petition; is aimed at providing the option of a card system fishing license to anglers. Upon receiving the license card, Amirodien says a new mobile app will be provided.

“Currently we have a paper license which is not conducive to the water environment. We hope to use a card system instead. In conjunction with this license, the mobile app will be linked to SAPS, NSRI and fellow anglers in the vicinity. The concept is fantastic and we are trying to get government on board but the process is slow,” Amirodien continued.

Western Cape police spokesperson Constable Noloyiso Rwexana confirmed that cases of assault and attempted robbery are being investigated. Rwexana further appealed to the broader community for assistance.

“No one has been arrested at this stage, anyone with information that can assist with the investigation is requested to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.” VOC (Ra’eesah Isaacs)