Cape Town - As part of its drowning prevention campaign, the City is deploying 340 beach lifeguards and 343 swimming pool lifeguards to ensure a secure and enjoyable festive season for holiday-makers.

This forms part of a record festive safety deployment of over 5 000 personnel across the metro.

Lifeguards will be on duty at 29 beaches, tidal pools, stretches of coast, and all public swimming pools between 10am and 6pm daily.

The City’s Identikidz child safety project will also be in full-swing, with the initiative tagging more than 130 000 children last summer.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said holiday-makers can further expect a top-up cleaning service targeting all beaches, scenic routes and central business districts.

“Cape Town’s anti-litter mascot, Bingo, will be making various public appearances to encourage people to ‘bin it in the Bingo bin’ and keep Cape Town clean for all to enjoy.

“Cape Town is expecting record numbers of visitors to our shores this festive season, bringing a welcome boost to our local economy and supporting tens of thousands of jobs.

“We are excited to welcome the world to our pristine beaches, where we will be pulling out all the stops to ensure a safe and enjoyable festive season.

“Visitors can expect well-trained lifeguards, an extensive child safety programme to prevent lost children, vehicle checkpoints, visible policing, and bolstered area cleaning services,” Hill-Lewis said.

Mayco member for community services and health, Patricia van der Ross, said Cape Town has seen an improvement in drowning statistics over the past three years.

“Fatal drownings were down 26% in the 2023/24 summer season when compared to the season before.

“Thirty non-fatal drownings, 14 fatal drownings, and 80 rescues were recorded along the coast in the 2023/24 season.

“There were no fatal or non-fatal drownings at municipal swimming pools.

“The improved statistics are welcomed, but one drowning is one too many.

“Even more heart-breaking is that all of the fatal drownings last season happened outside designated bathing areas, or during times when lifeguards were not on duty,“ Van der Ross said.

City safety operations will be coordinated from special Joint Operational Centres, reporting into the central Metropole Integrated Centre at the Traffic Management Centre in Goodwood, as well as the SAPS Command Centre.

Commenting on the plans, ward 107 Councillor in Table View, Jonathan Mills, said: “We are very pleased to see the City's record safety deployment and look forward to a fun-filled, drama-free festive season.

“We encourage everyone to come here to enjoy the sand and splash in the shallow water, but please do so responsibly. Don't get intoxicated, don't drink and drive, and do make sure you get home safely to your loved ones this Christmas.”

Meanwhile, the City said 100% of 120 water samples taken over the past month showed water quality within recreational use guidelines across 30 popular beaches including Melkbosstrand, Big Bay, Clifton 2nd, Clifton 4th, Maiden’s Cove tidal pool, Camps Bay, Llandudno, Mariner’s Wharf Hout Bay, Long Beach Simon’s Town, Fish Hoek, Muizenberg, Strandfontein, Mnandi, Strand, Gordon’s Bay and Kogel Bay.

“The outcome of 371 sampling tests over the last 12 months from four locations at Camps Bay beach – the results show consistently high water quality at this beach throughout the year.

“The outcome of daily sampling at the Green Point pump station from August 2024 to November 2024 – the results are ‘good’, and confirm there is no wastewater discharge from the old outfall pipe

“The outcome of weekly sampling between October 2023 and November 2024 and daily sampling (Monday to Friday) from September 23, 2024 to November 22, 2024 at the Strand swimming area and Strand surfing area, colloquially referred to as ‘Pipe’, the results for both locations indicate these nodes meet the standards for recreational use during summer when no rainfall events have occurred.”

Cape Argus