Durban boosts child safety as families head to beaches for festive season

Xaba did a walkabout on the beachfront on Reconciliation Day on Tuesday, one of the busiest days on Durban's beaches.

He says the municipality has distributed over 200,000 identification armbands to help reunite children with their parents should they become separated in large crowds.

"On the armband, you write the name of the child, the name of the parent, as well as the cell phone number. If, for whatever reason a child

 gets separated from the parent, we [would be] able to phone the parent and say, your child is here. Even if the child has to stay overnight.

 We’re also able to trace their parents so that we don't get people who lose their children out of excitement.

"Kids, when they're [at] the beach, they don't want their parents to keep holding them by [the] hand all the time. They also want to be free as well."

The mayor, who says he's impressed by the size of the crowds at Durban’s beaches, says he's confident the city will attract over 1.3 million visitors during the festive season.

He spoke with some visitors and assured them of their safety during the holidays.

"I came here to monitor all the elements of our management plan [which] is fully operational. I'm excited with what I've seen. The security plan is working very well. It's a multi-sectoral plan. It includes metro police, SAPS, private security, disaster, and others.”

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