Table Mountain hiking trail death seems to have been an accident, say police

The death of a man on a popular Table Mountain hiking trail at the weekend appears to have been an accident and not murder as was widely reported.

This comes after a runner told the Cape Argus on Sunday that he had come across the lifeless body of a man on the Pipe Track.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said the man’s throat had apparently been slit “from ear to ear”.

The runner said he was running down Kasteelspoort when he saw “a trail of blood” and police covering the body.

Western Cape police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut told News24 on Monday that the circumstances surrounding the death of a 57-year-old man in Kasteelspoort are being investigated and that a death inquest case docket has been registered for this purpose.

"Preliminary investigations on the scene suggested that the man was a victim of crime and that he sustained a stab wound, however after a thorough investigation it was discovered that he possibly fell and sustained the fatal wound as a result thereof," Traut said.

In June last year, News24 reported that security was ramped up on the mountain due to co-operation between Table Mountain Safety Forum, the SA Police Service and the City of Cape Town’s metro police.

“The working of the TMSF helped to secure the arrest of suspects responsible for the mugging of two University of Cape Town students in November,” the co-operative forum said.

The name of the victim has not yet been released.

Source: News24