CAPE TOWN – The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is appealing to two young men who removed the Pink Rescue Buoy from Strand beach in Cape Town to return it.
The Pink Rescue Buoy project is part of an extensive National Drowning Prevention Campaign started by the NSRI during 2017.
The deployment of the Pink Rescue Buoys is done with the cooperation of city councils, municipalities and communities in a rapidly growing effort to make our waters safer and to prevent drowning incidents.
According to the NSRI drowning manager Andrew Ingram the Pink Rescue Buoys are public rescue equipment that are sponsored by individuals and businesses in the interest of saving lives.
“Removing a Pink Buoy from a pole for any reason other than a rescue may cost somebody their life.
“Strand beach is a dangerous beach that has rip currents and in the past a number of people have drowned here,” he said.
The buoy with the location number 9-20 was removed from its pole close to the lifesaving club on Monday (November 15) about 6.56pm.
“When it was noticed by NSRI staff while monitoring the NSRI’s Strand beach safety cameras in the NSRI Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) that the Pink Buoy was missing, we went through the recording and found that the Pink Buoy was taken off the pole at 18h56 on Monday evening.
“This is an hour after lifeguards have gone off duty thus leaving a dangerous beach without bystander rescue equipment,” Ingram said.
He said they are in the process of adding trackers to the Pink Rescue Buoys as well as a number of them that are now monitored by cameras.
Ingram said they hope these two methods of monitoring the buoys will help during rescues as well as if they are stolen.
“We appeal to the two young men who we have footage of removing the Pink Buoy from its pole to return it to the pole urgently. If anyone recognises these two males please ask them to return it to the pole or tell us who they are on [email protected],” Ingram said.
IOL