City Supports Lifeguard Services for Summer

The City of Cape Town plans to extend its partnership with the Western Province Surf Lifesaving Association to provide some 160 lifeguards at 40 city beaches during the peak summer season.

The partnership was established two years ago, and the Mayoral Committee is to recommend that Council approves the continuation of this partnership for a further three years.

"This will give Western Province Surf Lifesaving Association (WPSLA) greater certainty for a longer period and is an expression of our confidence in WPSLA. They will now be able to embark on a long term training and development strategy for clubs and their individual surf lifesavers. The positive spin-offs of this partnership include raising the quality of surf lifesaving and therefore, more lives being saved." says Cllr Grant Haskin, Mayoral Committee Member for Amenities and Sport.

"We want to enhance easy and safe access to our beaches as they form an integral part of the City's tourist package.

"With a 307 kilometre coastline and 72 beaches, it is the City's responsibility to ensure safety at beaches throughout the year. Over the past two years it has also launched special initiatives during the high season between October and February.

"This has resulted in better beach management as well as fewer drownings. At Monwabisi beach alone the number went down to nil in the 2006/07 season from the previous season. The few drownings which did occur were beachgoers who went swimming after hours or in dangerous areas," he said.

"The City has budgeted R3 million this year for this service. Without a partnership agreement, the City will have to develop seasonal infrastructure at a much higher annual cost to ratepayers.

"Thanks to this partnership, two new surf lifesaving clubs have been established on the False Bay Coast. This has also stimulated growth in membership of all the clubs in the metropole which in turn means an increase in the number of volunteers involved at the City's beaches," he says.

WP Surf Lifesaving Association Chair, Mark Dotchin, welcomed the continuance of the agreement. "This provides stability for future planning and has helped us to increase our patrols and time at the city's beaches. As a result 215 new lifeguards joined the association last season", he says.

The proposed agreement provides for a combination of voluntary and paid services by the accredited lifeguards resulting in significant cost savings for the City.

Issued by:
Communication and Marketing
City of Cape Town
Tel: 021 400 2201

Media Queries:
Councillor Grant Haskin
Mayoral Committee Member for Amenities and Sport
Tel: 021 794 2493
Cell: 083 261 7484