Dedicated teams from Wilderness Search And Rescue WSAR Western Cape responded to an incident at the Platteklip historical site below Tafelberg Road on Friday 24 November after a 55-year-old hiker injured her ankle.
According to local guide and WSAR team member Hendre Zoutendyk: “Platteklip is Dutch for flat rock, and although many visitors would disagree with the name while climbing the steep steps up the popular Platteklip Gorge hiking trail, the route takes its name from the flat granite slabs below Table Mountain Road.
“For nearly two centuries, before the wash houses in Deer Park were completed in April 1888, the slabs were used as laundry.
"Slave women would carry baskets of dirty clothes up to the slabs and stand in the running water washing laundry, banging it on rocks, and wringing it out.
“Before early European settlers first discovered the site, indigenous residents referred to the site as Cammisa – Place of Sweet Water.
The injured hiker was treated on the scene and assisted into a stretcher.
Rescuers used a rope system to help carry her up the steep slope 1and back up to the road.
She was carried to a waiting ambulance and driven to hospital.
We would like to thank the City of Cape Town Law Enforcement officers for their assistance and wish the patient a speedy recovery.