Statement by the City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille
Mayor De Lille embarks on ‘I love my beach’ campaign
The festive season is a time of great joy in Cape Town as we welcome
residents and tourists to our city, and in particular our beaches. Cape Town’s
beaches are a major draw card, not only to tourists, but also to the residents
of our city. Each year the summer season sees 2,1 million people visit our 83
beaches, which stretch across 240 km of our coastline.
Eight of our beaches have Blue Flag status, meaning that they are
internationally recognised for their excellence in terms of safety, amenities,
cleanliness and environmental standards. South Africa is the first country
outside of Europe to have Blue Flag beaches and Cape Town currently has
the highest number of Blue Flag beaches. These include Bikini Beach
(Gordon's Bay), Camps Bay Beach, Clifton 4th Beach, Mnandi Beach,
Muizenberg Beach, Strandfontein Beach, Llandudno Beach,
Silwerstroomstrand and Melkbosstrand (pilot status).
During the next three days, I will be visiting nine of our beaches to spend
some time with residents and welcome visitors to our shores as part of the ‘I
love my beach’ campaign. Limited edition ‘I love my beach’ frisbees,
sunscreen and litter bags will be distributed as part of the campaign.
Along with the Mayoral Committee Members who will be accompanying me,
I would like to appeal to residents to work with us to keep our beaches clean
during the festive season.
As from November, the City of Cape Town has been implementing an
additional top-up cleansing service for scenic routes, key business areas and
beaches. These services will be maintained until February 2015, at a cost of R
22,2 million. An additional 1 864 Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP)
workers have been hired to enhance the City’s cleaning operations over
weekends and public holidays and to ensure that the beaches and other
areas remain clean.
While this is a time to unwind and relax, I would like to urge residents to do so
safely and responsibly. Our law enforcement officers will be patrolling the
beaches on a regular basis to ensure that beachgoers are able to enjoy
themselves safely. In case of emergencies they can also be contacted by
dialling 107 or calling 0860 765 423.
Our beaches are inclusive public spaces for all residents to enjoy with their
families, free from any threat of harm. In terms of the Seashore Act, it is illegal
to consume alcohol on City beaches and our officials patrol the beaches
regularly to confiscate alcohol from beachgoers. Between 1 and 17
December 2014, officers confiscated nearly 2 500 bottles of alcohol, totalling
just over 1 800 litres from beaches.
Those who break the law by consuming alcohol on our beaches are
potentially putting themselves at risk. This behaviour is also disrespectful of
other beachgoers, many of whom wish to enjoy the beach with their families
and young children.
In order to minimise the risk of drowning, 250 lifeguards are deployed on the
City’s beaches between 10:00 and 18:00 every day. Beachgoers can also
contribute toward keeping themselves and their families safe by taking note
of the following safety tips:
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Make sure that lifeguards can see you when you are in the water
Always swim between the red and yellow flags. These indicate safe,
supervised swimming areas. Areas outside these flags might conceal
dangerous currents and tides
Only swim in areas where other people are present
Report hazardous conditions or incidents to lifeguards or other beach
personnel
Parents must be on high alert when their children are playing in or near
the surf, a river or a pool. Children can also easily get lost on crowded
beaches and parents are urged to be especially vigilant
Our Disaster Risk Management Centre will also be running an Identikidz
programme where children are provided with Identikidz bands containing
their parents or caregivers’ contact details when they arrive at the beach.
These bands assist us in reuniting children with their parents in the event that
they get lost. This service will be available at the Silwerstroom, Strandfontein,
Monwabisi, and Strand beaches, which were chosen based on the number
of incidents in previous years, and requests from enforcement services.
Although each child’s safety is ultimately the responsibility of their parents, 89
volunteers will be dedicated to this service every weekend during the school
holidays from 20 December 2014 to 1 February 2015. Additional staff will be
deployed on the following priority days: 26 to 28 December 2014, 31
December 2014, and 1 January 2015.
We all want to live in a world-class city, and in order to achieve that we all
have a role to play in keeping our beaches safe and clean. Together we can
keep safe, keep clean, and keep making progress possible.
I would like to wish every resident and tourist a wonderful festive season. May
this be a time of cheer and goodwill for all.