Cape Town beaches - the good‚ the bad and the drunks

With about 45‚000 people descending on Cape Town beaches over the Christmas weekend‚ law enforcement officials had their hands full.

According to officials‚ 40 children went missing but were later reunited with their families thanks to the city’s child-tagging initiative. Many people tried their best to smuggle liquor onto the beaches and sadly two people drowned.

“A father who jumped into the sea at Gordon’s Bay to save his son drowned while attempting to rescue him. They were fishing when the boy was swept off the rocks. In the second incident‚ an elderly gentleman drowned at Soetwater. He had gone into the water to take out his daily crayfish quota‚ had a heart attack and drowned. In both cases attempts were made to resuscitate the victims‚ but to no avail‚” said Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith.

Smith said fewer people flocked to the beaches and public pools on Boxing Day than expected.

“An estimated 45‚000 people made their way to the city’s beaches and swimming pools. This is fewer than expected compared to the same time last year and we suspect this was due to the wind‚” said Smith.

He added that there was a significant decrease in drownings this year. Last year seven drownings were recorded and in 2015 13 people drowned.

“With another peak weekend coming up we remain vigilant. Drowning remains a concern and we urge people to have fun safely and to swim where there are lifeguards‚” said Smith.

The confiscation of alcohol also remained high on officials’ priority list. The consumption of alcohol is prohibited at beaches and public swimming pools. People were innovative in their efforts to conceal alcohol. In one instance‚ officials found red wine poured into a 2Litre Coke bottle.

“This year more than 900 bottles of alcohol were confiscated on the Christmas weekend alone. This included 492 beers‚ 293 ciders‚ 62 bottles of spirits and 53 bottles of wine. This figure is likely to rise as we are still receiving confiscated alcohol‚” said Smith.

The city's child-tagging system‚ known as Identikidz‚ was hugely popular among beachgoers. Children are tagged with a wristband with their parents’ contact details.

Officials recorded nearly 40 children missing from their parents but owing to the effectiveness of the child tag they were soon reunited with their families.

Roadblocks over the festive period also turned out to be fruitful. A total of 25 people were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol‚ two people were taken in custody for being in possession of drugs and two others for outstanding warrants. An illegal firearm was confiscated at Sparks Bay.