CAPE TOWN – Muizenberg Beach held the honour of launching the City of Cape Town’s Festive Season Safety Plan on Tuesday 18 November.
The City outlined its plans for its overall festive safety deployment, beach safety and drowning prevention, and traffic enforcement at the Muizenberg Civic Centre.
pe Town’s officials and lifegaruds alongside the mayor Geordin-Hill Lewis at the launch of festive season safety plan at Muizenberg beach. 
Mayco member for community services and health, Councillor Francine Higham testing out the life jackets. 
Mayor Geordin-Hill Lewis joined the lifegaurds for a scenic tour on the waves at Muizenberg beach. Photos: Keanan Harmse. 
680 lifeguards will be on all of stationed at all Cape Town beaches, public swimming pools and tidal pools.
The launch also highlighted lifeguarding and other proactive measures to prevent drownings as well as enhanced road-safety operations along major routes and in the vicinity of beaches and tourism hot spots.
Mayor Geordin-Hill Lewis attended the event along with Mayco member for Safety and Security JP Smith and Mayco member for Community Services and Health Francine Higham.
“Because we want people to be safe every year we launch this festive season safety plan,” said Hill Lewis. “In all, 680 lifeguards will be on all of our beaches, public swimming pools and all our tidal pools. We will have thousands of law-enforcement officers along the roads checking and stopping vehicles and checking for drunk driving. Also on our beaches we will confiscate alcohol. We will also monitor the hiking routes and make sure families picnicing are safe.”
Muizenberg is one of eight city beaches that received Blue Flag status in October this year, said the Mayor’s spokesperson Lyndon Khan.
“The public can further expect enhanced deployments on the City’s roads, at busy beaches, braai areas and tourism hotspots, including Table Mountain. Vehicle checkpoints will be in place across the metro, and the Highway Patrol Unit will operate on major routes 24 hours a day.
“Enforcement on the roads will be bolstered by an additional 40-strong N2 safety deployment,” Khan added.
“This forms part of the 700 new City officers deployed since September, including dedicated neighbourhood policing in every ward.”
The City said it would continue supporting the police in gang violence hotspots, with more than 1 000 LEAP officers deployed in shifts in those hotspots daily. As part of its drowning prevention campaign the City is deploying 340 beach lifeguards and 343 swimming pool lifeguards.
Lifeguards will be on duty at 29 different beaches, tidal pools, stretches of coast and all public swimming pools between 10:00 and 18:00 daily.
The City’s Identikidz child-safety project will be in effect at Cape Town’s busiest beaches during the peak season.
“This initiative tagged more than 120 000 children last summer to help reunite with caregivers if separated,” Khan said.
The City wants to remind public of the four golden rules when in and around water:
- Only swim where and when lifeguards are on duty, between their red and yellow flags designating the safest bathing areas
- Beware of rip currents
- Don’t swim under the influence of alcohol
- Always actively monitor children in and around water
“The City’s drowning prevention partners include Lifesaving Cape Town,” Khan said, “with 14 clubs along the coast, and the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), which is on standby to make emergency deployments of rescue swimmers and vessels operating from eight base stations across the city.”
For more information on lifeguarding schedules visit: https://bit.ly/CT-Beaches-Lifeguard-Schedule.
