Security ramped up on N4, R556 routes to Sun City and game reserves

A fleet of security vehicles will patrol key routes between Gauteng and the North West after three attacks on tourist buses by hijackers this month.

The armed gang is believed to be from Gauteng, targeting international visitors for foreign currency and other valuables. 

Government representatives, police, tourism groups, private security entities and local communities met at Sun City resort this week to develop a prevention plan and ensure visitor safety over the festive season, the acting head of the provincial tourism department Lebo Diale said.

“We are focusing on all routes into the province, but especially the N4 and the R556 which lead to various game parks and resorts,” said Diale.

“This high level of organised crime is not common in our province so we have reason to believe that criminals operating out of Gauteng are following the buses into the North West, believing they can act with impunity here. But we will not stand for this happening in our province.

“We have deployed 35 vehicles along the N4, the R556 and other significant provincial routes. These vehicles will provide an escort to tour buses as well as maintaining a security presence on these routes.”

She said the security vehicles began operating last weekend and are supported by a dedicated data collection agency that can feed information to police about the movement of tourist buses.

Sun City’s general manager Brett Hoppe said the resort has employed four people to operate a special data collection hub located at the resort. They will collate information received from local and national tour operators on the movement of tour buses.

A centralised e-mail address and WhatsApp number have been set up to receive the information, which is shared with SAPS and other relevant parties to assist them with their intelligence effort. The data collection agency will send daily reports to SAPS and also interface with the national tourism safety initiative.

“Some of the initiatives that we and SAPS are executing are confidential at this point, but believe me, they have taken the challenge seriously,” Hoppe said.

The tourism safety and festive season helpline can be contacted at Etelanw@suninternational.com or WhatsApp (text only) on 064-859-6795.

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