Good weather for the beach, but ...

The City of Cape Town has cautioned the public about the predicted hot weather that is likely to hit the province in the next two days, sparking a surge of visitors to the beaches.

The city said its safety and security directorate staff will maintain high levels of visibility at beaches and other public areas for the next few weeks until the school holidays end.

“Many people are still on holiday and I think they’ll want to make the most of any good weather, considering that both the peak festive season weekends didn’t offer the greatest weather,” said the city’s mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith.

Smith indicated that popular beaches were largely quiet on New Year’s Day compared with previous years, with an estimated 30 000 people on Muizenberg; 12 000 at Strandfontein Pavilion; 8 000 at Strand; and just 3 000 at Monwabisi.

Between December 1, 2017 and January 1, 2018, 10 drownings were recorded, compared to seven during the previous festive season. Three incidents happened at Mnandi, four at Strand and one each at Soetwater, Monwabisi and Muizenberg. There were also two false alarms at Strand and Melkbosstrand.

“The number of drownings are disappointing because we work really hard to ensure a safe environment for visitors to our beaches and other public attractions. This year we had extra lifeguards deployed, but it’s of little consequence if bathers venture outside the designated bathing areas or disregard the instructions of lifeguards. We will look at each incident to see what the exact circumstances were and how we can improve our beach safety strategy in future,” said Smith.

“In terms of alcohol confiscations, the final totals are not yet available as checking in alcohol is a time-consuming process that requires numerous checks and balances. As at 1pm today, there were just over 7 000 bottles of alcohol in the city pound, totalling nearly 5 000 litres.”

Smith added that a total of 47 children were reported lost, but were reunited with their families. – ANA