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Numbers seem to be down from previous years but a big crowd sat the paddling pools at Durbans beachfront enjoying their boxing day Picture: Shelley Kjonstad
Tourists have packed Durban’s beach hotels to the rafters, while sea rescue units and police say beachgoers are toeing the line this season.
Apart from an incident at Richards Bay, where three children were rescued from drowning by the National Sea Rescue Institute on Christmas Day, the KwaZulu-Natal coastline has seemingly been incident-free.
The three children were admitted to The Bay Hospital and were in serious, but stable, condition.
Police spokesman Vincent Mdunge said the number of lost children on Durban’s beachfront had decreased because children were fitted with wristbands bearing their names and the telephone numbers of their parents. Nevertheless volunteers still had their hands full with scores of lost children yesterday.
“This is a very serious problem we have to deal with,” said Mdunge. “It seems ludicrous and unacceptable that parents can lose children who are so young.”
One mother said she had left her daughter, Thabi, with a 14-year-old relative while she went to buy food. The older child went for a swim, leaving the girl alone.
Meanwhile, the owners of beachfront hotels said occupancy was up on last year.
“Beachfront hotels are 100 percent full,” said Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa vice-chairman Mike Jackson. “Yesterday people were asking if they could stay another day because of the extra public holiday. Numbers are definitely up on last year… our beachfront is growing in popularity”.
l A Bellville father drowned while trying to rescue his two children who were swept away by a large wave at Glen Beach, Cape Town emergency services said yesterday.
The City Disaster Risk Management Centre said lifeguards saw the father in distress. They rescued the children and pulled Anwar Hoo- sain, 45, out of the water. He was unconscious, and attempts to resuscitate him failed.
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Two brothers drowned in Rooskraal Dam just off the Vaal River while they were out fishing with their family.
A police spokesman said the boys went into the water about 8.30am.
A man in a canoe tried to help but could not reach the place where the boys had entered the water. Their bodies were recovered by police divers.
Police have opened an inquest docket. -The Mercury