Warrant Officer Balan Muthan, head of communications for the Douglasdale police said there have been numerous incidents of high-end bicycle theft in the Fourways area of late. These include bicycle hijackings as well as theft of bicycles from homes.
On New Year’s Day a cyclist was attacked in Blue Hills and his bike was stolen, and on 11 January a couple was robbed of their bicycles while riding at Northern Farm near Diepsloot.
Muthan said criminals were targeting high-end, often imported bicycles as they had a very high re-sale value. He said criminals may also be taking the bikes apart and selling the parts separately.
Muthan suggested that cyclists utilise similar tracking technology to car trackers, specifically the data dot system in which registration details are sprayed onto the bicycle.
He warned that cyclists need to be more vigilant and make sure they chain their bicycles up at all times.
