Durban -
The safety of children over the festive season took centre stage at the Durban beachfront on Tuesday.
Mayor James Nxumalo urged parents to make sure their children had armbands with their contact details so they could easily be reunited if the children got lost.
Nxumalo made the call on Tuesday at Durban’s New Beach, where people had gathered to enjoy live music and plays that were part of a drive for beach safety.
The eThekwini Municipality dispatched teams to put armbands on children, and Nxumalo said parents should look for the bands and municipal helpers as soon as they arrived at the beach.
“Those tags make it easy for children to be reunited with their parents as they have the parents’ phone numbers written on them,” he said.
Thousands of young and old people from North Beach to South Beach got into the festive vibe in overcast conditions on Tuesday.
They arrived mostly in minibus taxis, some from as far as Joburg. Nxumalo, accompanied by Social Development MEC Weziwe Thusi, said the municipality was expecting 1 million people at the beachfront this season.
Private security officers, metro police and the SAPS could be seen patrolling along the beachfront.
Nxumalo said emergency services and hospitals were on standby to attend to any injuries.
He urged commuters to refuse to travel with taxi drivers who had been drinking.
The aim of the music show was to warn beach visitors to behave by staying away from drugs and alcohol. But teenage boys and girls were seen drinking, and some were clearly intoxicated.
“Why must I drink when I’m at the beach? I can still have lots of fun without alcohol. If I drink I could end up becoming a rape victim,” a performer said during one of the stage productions.
Vagrants could be seen mingling with the crowd. Visitors were also warned to mind their belongings after pickpocketing cases were reported.
Thusi said the provincial government was concerned about the increasing use of drugs in Durban.
She said the provincial cabinet had held a three-day meeting in the city to discuss how to deal with the problem.
“We talk to people about drugs. Some listen, others don’t. The situation is really bad,” she said.
Thusi added that the problem of vagrants at “Whoonga Park” (Albert Park), where many young people take drugs, remained unresolved.
“These people disappear and later come back. Others have agreed to go for rehabilitation, but a large number remain a problem,” she said.
- The Mercury