On Sunday, the 24 of January, South Africa was hit by a tropical storm called Eloise which left most of the places in country flooded and even animals were affected by catastrophic situation that was caused by the cyclone, a video of cows drowning circulated on various social media platforms. So the disaster has instantly prompted the Sea Rescue organisation to go all out in trying to offer lessons to South African citizens who are interested in being Life-guards. Sea Rescue (NSRI ) is a national non profit organisation that focuses on drowning prevention and rescue. This is a very necessary service since a staggering number (600) of children drown in South Africa every year.
The classroom-based water safety programme was started in 2006 and has reached more than 2.6 million people nationwide; giving lessons on how to be safe around all bodies of water like rivers, dams and swimming pools is immensely vital because even adults are vastly at risk of drowning. Currently we are getting a lot of heavy rainfall in Gauteng with rivers and dams always full of water. It’s important that everyone remains safe during floods.With the nationwide lockdown we are spreading our water safety messages on social media platforms, radio stations and newspapers. We also offer virtual lessons on Microsoft Teams to schools that have access to the internet.
Mr Mthombeni said: “To keep children safe around the house, parents should always monitor their children, they must always make sure that water in bath tubs, basins and buckets are not left unattended, and they must also assemble safety nets around the pools if they do have them their premises and even children who are good swimmers should not be left unsupervised.”To engage with Mr Mthombeni for free water safety lessons please send an email to percy@searescue.org.za or call him on 0735077270.
