KZN drownings all at non-bathing beaches - Lifesaving SA
Lifesaving SA says every single fatal drowning that took place in KZN last month happened at a non-bathing beach where no lifeguards were stationed.
"What 2024 showed, particularly in the second half of November, was something that we haven't seen in many years. This is something that was quite extraordinary in KZN," said the president of Lifesaving SA, Dhaya Sewduth.
"If you look at that week alone, the temperatures really soared. It was also the tail-end of exams, we had actually seen something that was out of the trend. This is the kind of statistics you see in the peak holiday season in December leading into January."
Seven people lost their lives across the province last month.
READ: More lifeguards for KZN beaches during festive season
Sewduth says they have picked up that the drowning incidents may be linked to rip currents, which South African beaches are notorious for.
"If you get caught in the rip current and you are not a strong swimmer or you don't know what to do, then you are obviously going to, in all likelihood, you will perish in the ocean. We are emphasising the point about not going to swim where lifeguards don't patrol.
"The simple procedure that lifeguards follow is that they get to the beach, they will access the condition, they will pull up those flags in the safest place along that stretch of beach, and they will keep the bathers in that zone. A lot of people of people don't know how to spot a rip current, so they just look at the ocean and ironically, the rip current looks like where the ocean is the calmest in between the waves."
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