The City of Cape Town says there have been seven confirmed fatal drownings and 11 near drownings at beaches since the beginning of December.
Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services Patricia van der Ross says the incidents happened at beaches that are not designated swimming areas or outside of lifeguard duty hours.
She says their Identikidz Project has been successful with nearly 86 000 children tagged by the first of this month.
“Unsurprisingly, the New Year’s long weekend has been busiest thus far, with 36 959 children tagged, and 198 reunions. Identikidz will still be available over the next three weekends at the participating beaches and we encourage parents to continue working with us, and to make use of this incredibly valuable service.”
Meanwhile, tourism arrivals and visitor numbers to popular attractions in Cape Town surged over the past few weeks. This as the Mother City experiences a bumper festive season. Around 31 000 passengers were processed on some days at Cape Town International Airport.
Beaches in the Mother City have also been busy over the festive period. The monthly tourism report, compiled by the Western Cape government, indicates a significant increase in tourism in the province between January and October 2023.
