The City of Cape Town will once again ramp up deployment levels at beaches, party spots and at a myriad of events over the next week as the festive season winds down. With a host of events on the cards in the coming days, good beach conditions and the end of school holidays in sight, the City’s enforcement, emergency and related services staff are on high alert and pulling extra hours where needed to ensure public safety. Read more below:

Some of the key priority areas/events over the next week are:

The Cape Malay Choir Board road march on Sunday 30 December

New Year’s Eve festivities

A focus on beaches for New Year’s Day, until the end of the school holidays

The Tweede Nuwejaar road march

‘The weather that is forecast for the next week or so until the school year starts looks very favourable, so we expect the beaches and the roads to be extremely busy, even after New Year’s Day. The annual minstrels event also draws huge crowds.

‘I know that there is much excitement around seeing in the New Year as well as locals and holidaymakers enjoying the last stretch before life returns to normal. The City’s enforcement and rescue staff will be on hand to keep revellers safe, but we also ask that people please be responsible irrespective of where they find themselves,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

Since 1 December 2018, City enforcement staff have confiscated 6 790 bottles of alcohol (4 318 litres) from beaches and other public spaces. This represents a near 20% increase compared to the same period in 2017.

Cape Town Traffic Service arrested 260 persons for driving under the influence at various roadblocks, while the Metro Police Department made an additional 77 arrests. Collectively, this figure too represents a 20% increase year-on-year.

‘These increases are indicative of the level of policing that our staff have put in this festive season. My appeal to people is to not become a statistic, either for drunk driving or as a road fatality. There have been a shocking number of deaths on our roads already this month and, in many instances, human behaviour was cited as the cause. To our motorists and particularly the long distance operators, please exercise due care when transporting holidaymakers on their return journeys. There has been enough heartbreak and devastation on our roads already,’ added Alderman Smith.

On the coast, the City’s Recreation and Parks Department has recorded two fatal drownings since the beginning of the festive season and 21 non-fatal drownings. At the City’s swimming pools, there have been 271 help-outs, where persons have gotten into difficulty in the water.

‘We are heading into a very busy period and the only way we can prevent or mitigate the risk of visitors getting into trouble in the water is through teamwork and a shared responsibility. Please listen to the instructions of City staff, and lifeguards in particular; and please do not bring alcohol to our facilities or drink before you swim,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Zahid Badroodien.

The Identikidz project tagged nearly 39 000 children by Boxing Day at the 14 participating beaches. A total of 120 children became separated from their parents/caregivers. A total of 104 were successfully reunited at the beach, while 16 children were placed in the care of the Western Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) on Boxing Day and later reunited with their families.

‘It is becoming clear from the statistics that more and more people are aware of the existence of the Identikidz project and are having their children registered and tagged on arrival. The fact that we have been able to successfully reunite all children to date speaks to the efficacy of the project. We therefore encourage beachgoers to please make use of the system for the remainder of the festive season to ensure that their children remain safe at all times, even if they become separated from their families,’ added Councillor Badroodien.

Residents are reminded that there are 11 designated fireworks sites that they can access on New Year’s Eve. These sites are:

Athlone Stadium parking area (eastern side), Klipfontein Road, Athlone

Wesfleur sports field, Reygersdal Drive, Atlantis

Bishop Lavis sports field, Lavis Drive, Bishop Lavis

Metropolitan sports grounds, Melkhout Street, Bonteheuwel

Blue Downs sports field

Delft Central sports grounds, Main Road, Delft

Macassar Beach parking area, Macassar Road

Swartklip sports complex, Swartklip Road, Mitchells Plain

Sarepta sports complex

Strandfontein Pavilion

Tourism Centre, Athens Road, Table View beachfront

All sites will have an enforcement and fire service presence and will be open until just after midnight.

Source: City Of Cape Town