Durban — The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) has launched the Water Safety Programme in all nine provinces to help reduce high freshwater drownings.
The recently launched programme targets primary and high school pupils.
NSRI Drowning Prevention Services executive director Dr Jill Fortuin said the purpose is to save lives, change lives and “create futures” in all regions of South Africa.
“As the Drowning Prevention Department, our mandate is to improve knowledge, attitude and behaviour with regards to drownings.”
She said they were working with all relevant parties.
“While our focus is primary and secondary school learners, we have included those employed in the agriculture sector, persons working in and around water and Regional Disaster Management organisations.
“These communities are vulnerable to drownings in farm dams, rivers and streams, and without formal swimming skills, people too often find themselves in trouble,” Fortuin added.
“We are encouraging the community in those provinces, especially the schools, to kindly open their doors to our instructors as we would like to continue to make South Africa a water-safe nation.”
NSRI Drowning Prevention in KZN Durban Regional Branch team leader and instructor Siyabonga Mthethwa said this water safety programme would help to reduce the high number of freshwater drownings in KZN.
“KwaZulu-Natal remains the leading province with the highest number of freshwater drownings, so this programme is a game changer and will definitely bring positive results by teaching people about water safety.
“The reason behind high freshwater drownings in KZN, especially in rural areas where there are dams and flowing rivers, is because most people are not exposed to knowledge on how to act when drowning or trying to rescue each other,” said Mthethwa.
He added that this was a water safety programme, and expanding the skills of instructors would ease their work and bring positive results in terms of reducing the number of freshwater drownings.
Mthethwa said that the most common cases they deal with are of people who drown while trying to rescue others.
The latest statistics revealed that between 2016 and 2021, the highest number of drownings occurred in freshwater, with 3 713 drownings reported, dispelling the myth that most drownings occur in the ocean.
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Daily News