CAPE TOWN – Concerned about fellow water users, a Sea Point resident is calling for better visibility of the sea wall ladders along the Sea Point Promenade which are used to access safety from the ocean.
Richard Tomlinson, regular kayaker who paddles off the Sea Point and Three Anchor Bay shoreline, said he noticed that the ladders embedded in the sea wall are difficult to see from offshore.
The ladders are evenly spaced along the rocky shoreline, connecting the Promenade walkway to the rocks below.
But Tomlinson said with no markings to show where the ladders are, someone in distress wouldn’t know where to head for safety.
“If you find yourself in difficulty it would be a good thing to know where you can swim to.
Tomlinson shared that he encountered a serious challenge at sea last year, highlighting the need for visible safety measures.
“Once a wave turned me over. I was wearing dingy sailing shoes. I just held onto my kayak and the waves were knocking me against the rocks. I could just lie flat and walk until I got to the shore. I was lucky but someone else might not be in the same position. If you are 100 meters out at sea, you can’t see the ladders.”
Tomlinson said he approached the National Sea Rescue Institute, and later the City of Cape Town, with the suggestion that the ladders should be clearly marked to easily identify their location.
He said one of the three sea ladders has since been furnished with a bright red square painted on the boardwalk, but he said this marking offers no help to those offshore, and the remaining two sea ladders have yet to be marked.
“Red squares make sense for rescuers to get into the water. But it is totally invisible when you’re out at sea. I suggest that they paint an indication of a ladder on the wall.”
Craig Lambinon, NSRI spokesperson, referred to all enquiries to the City.
Eddie Andrews, Deputy Mayor and Mayco member for spatial planning and environment, said the ladders are not marked for “public access” from the sea.
“They are marked on the promenade with red blocks for access by the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI). Those ladders were done in consultation with the NSRI so that if there’s an emergency and the NSRI needs to access the water to rescue someone (when their staff or volunteers are running along the promenade) it’s very clear to them where the ladders are.”
According to Andrews, the ladders on the seawall are not public access points into or out of the shoreline.
“The ladders on the seawall are not designed, neither meant for people to access and climb out of the sea across the rocks and up the ladders, we therefore don’t mark them like that,” he explained.
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