Over the last few months there have been a number of muggings and thefts and attempted thefts of cellphones in the dog part of the Botanical Gardens.

ERA has been engaging with City Parks as well as CAP and JMPD. City Parks says that safety in the park is JMPD’s job, it can do nothing. However, it is proposing that all entrance gates are locked between 6pm and 6am to try and reduce these incidents.

Meanwhile ERA is continuing to discuss with various bodies other ways to decrease these incidents and make the park safer. One option we are investigating is to mount panic buttons on poles in the park linked to a security provider.

We need to know whether you would be prepared to:

• pay a monthly fee OR
• crowd fund for such a service

What do you think of changing the opening and closing times and panic buttons in the park. E-mail to info@era.org.za