Lifeguards flee neglected beaches

Lifeguards at False Bay in Cape Town are leaving in droves because of the appalling conditions they work under.

Cape Town - With summer fast approaching and Cape Town residents expected to head to the beach in their droves, red flags have been raised about the number of trained lifeguards at one of the city’s most dangerous and busy beaches.

Lifeguards at Monwabisi beach on the False Bay coast are leaving because of the appalling conditions, putting a strain on the remaining volunteers charged with the safety of beachgoers during the busy holidays.

Monwabisi Surf Lifesaving’s clubhouse and tower are disappearing under sand and squatters have moved in. There are filthy blankets and rubbish is piled high in the vacant buildings, which are covered in graffiti. Lifeguards, who spend long hours on the beach, have no shelter and don’t even have a toilet nearby.

Mziwoxolo Mayedwa, who heads Monwabisi Surf Lifesaving and is the vice-chairman of Lifesaving Western Province, said the organisation had trained about 100 lifeguards over the years, but only had between 30 and 40 active lifeguards because conditions were not conducive to keeping them motivated. “Some simply give up while many go and work at swimming pools.”

Mayedwa said all they had received from the city council over the years were empty promises. He said clubs such as Fish Hoek and Big Bay had enough guards on the beach. But Monwabisi is not a tourist attraction and doesn’t bring much to the economy, so it is neglected.”

The beach is notorious for rip currents, and two years ago there were reports that 10 people had drowned in three years.

Sean Gordon, vice-chairman of the Strandfontein Surf Lifesaving Club and club captain, said the club also trained lifeguards who often left to go to clubs where conditions were better and where there were more opportunities to compete.

Parents at the wealthier clubs were also more involved. “We don’t have anything to offer them here,” he said.

The mayco member for Community Services and Special Projects, Belinda Walker, said the city council planned to redesign the Monwabisi beach resort, which would result in extensive upgrading of the area.

This upgrade would take place as money became available and would involve moving the infrastructure away from the beach area where it would not be damaged by the dynamic sand movement, as was currently the case.

Walker said that as an interim measure regarding the clubhouse, they had rented two containers from which the club could operate.

“To make the lifeguards on duty as comfortable as possible, a gazebo has been purchased for them to be situated on the beach.”

The city council said a redesign of the Strandfontein Resort and surrounding areas was also on the cards but didn’t set a time frame.

Gordon told the Cape Argus he felt transformation was still lacking in lifesaving.

He said the SA Surf Lifesaving Union, comprising black clubs, and the white Surf Lifesaving Association of SA, had unified in 1991, but split again several years later.

He said Strandfontein had produced a number of success stories, “but I believe we need to be identifying more youngsters at an early age, like they do in Australia”.

These youngsters would be placed in programmes and “groomed” as top competitors. But he said they were battling to find sponsors.

Paul Fortuin, president of Strandfontein Lifesaving Club, said it would help to have facilities such as jogging and cycling lanes around the beach.

Ed Schroeder, regional co-ordinator of Lifesaving Western Province, said the organisation had on-going issues to have buildings, owned by the city council and leased to the clubs, repaired and maintained.

He said the organisation had raised the issue with the city council, which said it was embarking on a programme to fix the facilities but, again, hadn’t given time frames.

Schroeder said instead of waiting for this, the so-called “wealthy” clubs hosted fundraising events and fixed their buildings – “effectively doing the city council’s job”.

But he said clubs such as Strandfontein and Monwabisi could approach corporate companies for assistance.

Schroeder said because of sharks in False Bay they could use only the beaches on the Atlantic Seaboard for competitions. However, travelling there was expensive.

He said most of the top competitors had their own equipment. “Clubs have equipment that is used for duty and this doubles up to be used for competitions.”

Another reason that prevented participation was that some members preferred to work paid duty so they could be remunerated over the course of the season.

The city council’s department of sport, recreation and amenities has more than 150 paid lifeguard posts available.

helen.bamford@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

* Use our Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.