The beaches between Muizenberg and Gordons Bay are so treacherous that more than half of the total number of drownings in the Western Cape each year happen along this stretch of coastline. This summer, at least 14 people have been reported drowned in Cape Town, and hundreds more saved, with most near-drownings taking place on these beaches.
Strandfontein, Blue Waters, Mnandi, SwartÂklip and Monwabisi were all ‘non-white†beaches reserved for Africans Âliving in Guguletu and Khayelitsha and coloureds from the Cape Flats. Although people can now swim wherever they want to, these more dangerous beaches are still frequented mainly by black and coloured people because the safer, once ‘whites-only†beaches are too far away.
Last year, 250 swimmers had to be rescued from Cape Town’s cold sea — 60% of these near-drownings were reported along this coastline.
Tony Serfontein, the senior superintendent of beaches from Mnandi to Strandfontein, says these beaches should not have been developed in the first place. ‘The former government gave them to black and coloured people in order to keep them away from the whites-only beaches, and we’re now trying to deal with the hangover from that time.â€
Over the past 15 years, the city council has spent huge amounts of money upgrading the beaches along this coast.
At Monwabisi, the former government placed boulders in the sea to construct a false beach in an attempt to make the beach safer and more accessible. But this created an unsafe swimming area; the boulders gave rise to strong currents that easily entrap swimmers.
Lifesavers working on this beach say the water gets deep quickly and there is a strong current going out to sea.
About 5Â 000 people go to Monwabisi on Boxing Day; on New Year’s Day the number rises to 30Â 000 — and eight to 10 volunteer lifesavers are posted here daily during the summer holidays.
According to the manager of Monwabisi beach, Keith Matthews, the beach is dangerous even for experienced swimmers: ‘85% of the people in our townships can’t swim because there are so few swimming pools, and then the closest beach to the townships is very dangerous. It’s a recipe for disaster. We have 15 signs on the beach at Monwabisi warning swimmers about the dangers of swimming. Combined with alcohol abuse, the sheer number of people on the beach — and the fact that the beach and the sea are virtually the only free entertainment for kids and parents during the school holidays — and you have problems.â€
Khayelitsha, with an estimated population of more than one million people, only has one public swimming pool, which is open five months of the year. Guguletu and Mitchells Plain each have two pools. There are a further six swimming pools throughout the Cape Flats, servicing more than one million people.
Mark Dotchin, the chairman of Western Province Lifesaving, who oversees all lifesavers along the Cape coast, says the nature of the beaches is not the only problem: ‘People drown along this coast mainly because of the socio-economic realities of this town. In the affluent areas, people don’t go to the beach if the weather is bad and the sea is rough. They can do something else for entertainment. But even if conditions are shocking, you will find some False Bay beaches packed, because kids have nothing else to do.â€
The distance to safer beaches is also an issue. The Daniels family from Mitchells Plain have been going to Strandfontein ‘since apartheid was kingâ€, says Nathaleen Daniels, the mother of five school-going kids. ‘It’s a lovely beach and we only pay R2,30 a person [R13,80 total] to get here. The kids have a great time while I’m so anxious on this beach, I never sit down. I spend all day counting and looking for my children, and when they go into the sea, I feel sick. But going to Muizenberg will cost R36 for all of us, and I can’t afford that every single sunny day during the holidays. We’re stuck with this beach, and the beach is stuck with us,†she laughs.