Safari tourists robbed in PE

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

By Helga van Staaden
Six Belgian tourists on a hunting safari threatened to fly home within hours
of arriving in Port Elizabeth after a rented trailer containing their
expensive rifles and equipment was stolen.

However, what upset the tourists most was the fact that the police failed to
respond to their call for assistance. After two hours they eventually had to
find their own way to the Humewood police station to report the theft.

To add insult to injury the visitors now face possible prosecution on a
charge of negligence for allegedly failing to secure the rifles.

Tour leader Edward Seyditz of Ed?s Safaris, whose desperate pleading finally
persuaded the visitors to remain in South Africa and continue their hunting
safari in the Karoo, said he was appalled at the treatment they had
received.

The group consists of two couples, Luke and Michelle de Ridder and Bernard
and Patricia Higuet, and Nello Accapulo and Philip Depasse.

They are all from the eastern part of Belgium.

Their nightmare unfolded on Saturday afternoon after they had enjoyed lunch
at Cafe Brazilia in Humerail.

When they returned to their vehicle they realised their trailer, containing
four hunting rifles and their luggage had been stolen.

"As soon as we realised the trailer was gone we contacted the police. Every
time we phoned they said a police vehicle was on its way.

"After waiting at the restaurant for two hours, we decided to go to the
Humewood police station ourselves.

"The service was appalling. If the police responded immediately they could
have found the trailer," Mr Seyditz said. He said his clients had a very bad
first impression of the country.

Mr Seyditz hosts about eight to 10 groups in the Eastern Cape per year,
which earns the province revenue of at least R250 000 per group.

"It took some desperate pleading to convince them to complete their 10-day
hunting expedition," he said.

Mr Seyditz said it was sad that such an incident should happen, as it
negatively affected tourism.

Some of the tourists were forced to wear the same clothing, as all their
clothing was stolen.

A Somerset-East store owner offered to open his store yesterday for the
tourists to buy new clothing.

The tourists have offered a R20 000 reward for their trailer and contents.
The Venter trailer?s registration number is KRR 031 GP.

Despite the incident, the group had a "wonderful time" at the Klipfontein
farm in Graaff-Reinet yesterday where they were hunting game.

The group will stay in the Karoo until Thursday when they will return to
Port Elizabeth.

They will then fly off to the Limpopo Province, where they spend four days
before heading back to Belgium.

Police spokesman Superintendent Johan van Greunen said a case of theft has
been opened, but the group would also face a charge of negligence.

Mr Seyditz said in reaction to the police statement: "That is uncalled for.
How can they charge us for negligence when someone stole the trailer by
breaking the lock.

"How can the police say we were negligent? We were not negligent."

Eastern Province Herald

It doesn't surprise me in the least. RSA is not what it once was, and the police are not a model of efficiency or dedication.

IMO, the safari operator SHOULD have met them at the airport and escorted them directly to his base of operations, where they could secure their guns and personal effects. Barring that, he should have warned them about leaving their things unattended.

George

Whenever we hunted in either South Africa or Zimbabwe, and were in town, at least one tracker was left with the truck when our luggage was in it.

I suppose leaving a trailer parked without any guard is negligence in South Africa.

There is always someone around willing to "guard" vehicles for a few rand in every South African parking lot I have ever been in.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing ... as mentioned by one poster the rule of thumb in Southern Africa is ALWAYS leave an attendant to guard your vehicle or in this case a trailer with rifles in it, some blame may be apportioned at the local agent [ if in fact ] he was aware of what was going on ....

Just to emphasize the new SA we recently had some fence poles stolen from the game fence line, the villians dug out the poles and left the wire .... another common theft in SA is the copper telephone wires are stolen ...

Oh well, another challenging day in sunny SA (-:

Peter

The problems with leaving a gaurd (at least where I work in PNG) would be that if they are on there own and a bunch of hoods come along, or a bunch of relatives ,are they going to say no and get shot? It certainley isnt the tourists who should be getting charged anyway.

The same thing happened to me in France while lunching. Broke into my vehicle, stole our luggage including our passports and money. Police took a report but that's it. Yes, it's a little rich charging them with negligence. I presume the trailer belonged to the PH and he should have known better. But for them to get huffy and threaten to leave is rather naive, or should I say childish.

When applying for a firearms licence in RSA, one is (or was) actually required to sign a statement acknowledging that leaving a firearm in a (locked) vehicle constitutes criminal negligence. It does make it tricky to pop into a restaurant for a breakfast on the way up to the bush, or pop into the loo at a garage. In any event, someone always stays with the vehicle (don't trust those 'car guards' with too much). When we stop for breakfast, it's at a restaurant with a patio (smoking) section, where we are eating a few metres from the cars (.357 range?)

I suppose all these precautions become second nature after a while. The outfitter should have known what to do, though.