The ocean is beautiful yet unpredictable and dangerous. This is the hard lesson three Zimbabwean men learnt when a large wave swept them off the rocks along the shoreline opposite the Windsor Hotel in Hermanus.
Reports state Harship Padize and his friends were busy taking photos when a huge wave caught them unawares, knocking them off the rocks where they had been standing.
Jean le Roux, NSRI Hermanus duty coxswain, confirmed the institute and police responded to eyewitness reports of three men having been swept off the rocks and into the surf on Tuesday 21 March at approximately 17:20.
“The NSRI rescue craft Rescue 17 Bravo was launched and the Western Cape Government Health Emergency Medical Services were activated.”
Rescuers managed to recover Padize from the water and the NSRI rescue craft transported him to the NSRI base in the New Harbour, where cardiopul-monary resuscitation was done. He was, however, declared deceased following extensive efforts to resuscitate him.
Captain Fadila September, spokes-person for Hermanus Police, confirmed an inquest docket had been opened. “We can confirm a Zimbabwean citizen lost his life in a drowning incident near the Windsor Hotel,” she said. “Two persons were saved of which one is in hospital.”
Padize is one of many people who lost their lives along the rocky stretch of coastline between the Old and the New Harbours in Hermanus.
NSRI Hermanus station commander André Barnard confirmed the NSRI has attended numerous fatal and non-fatal drowning incidents in the surf between the two harbours.
In July 2022 the Hermanus Times reported about former Springbok rugby player Breyten Paulse’s mother Setta Visagie and her sister Marie Gelant, who drowned after being swept off the rocks at the Old Harbour while they were taking photos.
The paper also reported in June 2022 about a man drowning near The Esplanade, just a few hundred metres from where Padize drowned last week.
In May 2022 another man lost his life when he fell off the rocks at Gearing’s Point and in April that year, a homeless man sustained serious injuries when he tumbled down the cliffs near The Marine hotel. He later died in hospital. These incidents, say Barnard, cannot be blamed on a lack of warning signs.
He explained: “People do not really pay attention to the signs, either because they weren’t following the path along which the signs are displayed, were talking to each other or were taking photos.
“There should be more signs, and signs should also be erected on the rocks. Erecting fences or walls will not do much to deter people who want to take photos, collect bait or angle from the rocks.”
Barnard shared the following safety tips:. Never turn your back on the ocean.. Don’t venture too close to the ocean.. Never go to the ocean on your own. If you do, make sure a loved one knows where you are.. Contact the NSRI on 112 from your cellphone or the NSRI Hermanus Station on 082 990 5967, NSRI Kleinmond on 063 699 2765 or NSRI Agulhas on 082 990 5952. Call 10177 for an ambulance and 10111 to contact the police.
