Lion’s Head is off limits

The South African National Parks (SANParks) has announced popular trails on Lion’s Head will be closed “until further notice” because of hikers’ non-compliance with safety regulations.

It’s been a week since SANParks initially announced it would be open for visitors under Level 3 of the nationwide lockdown.

It said that although most of the park would be open, the following areas within the park would remain closed under alert Level 3 of the lockdown: Boulders Beach, Cape Point, Silvermine Gate 1 and 2, Upper Tokai and all picnic sites.

According to government directives, all individuals who are hiking, or are out in public in general, must wear a face mask.

The founder of the Lion 500 Challenge, Kosta Papageorgiou, which is an initiative to raise funds and awareness for mental health and nature

conservation, said the closure was a good

decision.

“It is important to practise social distancing and maintain strict personal protective equipment practice, not only for ourselves, but for the person next to us, and unfortunately Lion’s Head is notoriously known for crowds disrespecting SANParks rules and hiking etiquette,” Kosta told the Cape Argus.

Papageorgiou said the public could not be trusted with reasonable social distancing efforts on Lion’s Head.

“One can only understand until you summit Lion’s Head on a Saturday morning where it literally becomes as busy as Camps Bay on Christmas Day.

“The bigger the crowd, the lower the collective IQ.

“The mountain will always be there, we must be patient and understand our circumstances,” he said.

Cape Argus