Beaches in the Cape experienced its busiest beach day in three years last Saturday (8 January), as thousands of bathers and swimmers descended on facilities looking to cool down in blistering hot temperatures.
Helderberg beaches were also packed to the brim, with all beaches in Strand reaching full capacity, facilities in Gordon’s Bay also filled and beachgoers also opting to seek out the cool waters along Clarence Drive (R44). What’s more, the increase in beachgoers led to the closure of Beach Road in Strand at Paardevlei, while traffic was backed up along Clarence Drive for hours.
Community groups on Facebook were inundated with posts of aerial photos of local beaches, and these were shared far and wide. According to Patricia van der Ross, Mayoral Committee member for Community Services and Health, Saturday was one of the busiest beach days experienced in the City of Cape Town.
“I am proud of the massive effort put in by all our services over the weekend; I especially want to celebrate the commitment of our lifeguards,” she related. “We lost three lives to fatal drownings on Saturday, while 134 lives were saved because of their efforts. Their hard work and dedication to serving the public under challenging circumstances should be commended.”
The fatalities occurred outside of designated bathing areas at unguarded beaches or beyond the hours when lifeguards were on duty, Van der Ross added. Among them was the drowing of a Strand resident (full article on page 5); the other two occurred at Glencairn and Monwabisi East beaches.
In addition, a total of 127 help-outs – rescues where potential drownings were avoided – were recorded by City lifeguards on duty, along with six near-fatal drownings. Additional first-aid cases, including dislocations, seizures, facial injuries and minor cuts and bruises, were also attended to by lifeguards.
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) provided active duties to the City’s support services at Strand, Monwabisi, Strandfontein and Muizenberg, with the organisation’s base stations conducting routine water patrols.
The City’s Social Development and Early Childhood Development Department also continued its Identikidz programme, which tagged 21 507 children at the weekend and reunited 155 with their parents or caregivers. Six untagged children were handed over to the provincial Department of Social Development as they could not be reunited with their parents or caregivers by nightfall.
“Identikidz staff have tagged 98 232 children and reunited 338 with their families [this holiday season],” Van der Ross pointed out. “There are still some busy, hot days ahead and I want to encourage parents to ensure they have their children tagged. It’s a simple, quick process and will save worry and trauma.”
The programme will run again this weekend (Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 January). The Identikidz staff will be stationed at Gordon’s Bay, Strand and Harmony Park beaches on these days.
