Safety programme reunited 240 children with families during festive: City of Cape Town

The City of Cape Town says most of the children who were separated from their families over the New Year’s weekend on beaches were not tagged as part of its Identikidz programme.

The City’s Mayco member for Community Services and Health, Patricia Van Der Ross says last weekend over 240 children were reunited with their families as a result of the safety programme.

Van Der Ross says since the launch of the programme at 16 beaches in the Metro in the middle of December, almost 400 children were returned home safely, but 13 lost children were handed into the care of the provincial Department of Social Development when night fell.

She says there is, however, still resistance toward the programme, despite its success.

“Feedback from our project coordinators was that most of the children who were separated from their families this past weekend were not tagged, which made it even more difficult to find their caregivers. We’ve also had some issues at some beaches where parents refused to participate in the project. I can’t understand it, we are providing a service that offers peace of mind, especially on our busy beach days.”

Two days ago, the sharpening of a beach safety programme in Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape delivered a near-perfect result this past New Year’s day.

Operation Hlangula was launched way back in 2010, as a safety net, especially with women and children in mind during the packed December festive season. Just one child went missing but was shortly reunited with her parents.

Video: Beach safety programme pays off at Port St Johns, Eastern Cape