The trailer provides a secure facility for lifesaving equipment, flags and rescue equipment. Picture: Supplied.
Cape Town – The Surf Lifesaving Club in Macassar just got itself a much-needed lifeguard trailer to make its work saving lives a lot easier.
With over 50-years of existence and preventing drowning, Surf Lifesaving club is a non-profit voluntary organisation which focuses on training lifeguards in communities using international lifesaving benchmark standards to watch over beachgoers and make sure the general public is safe at the beach.
Chairperson of Macassar Surf Lifesaving Club, Lesley Kuys expressed his gratitude for the sponsored lifeguard trailer which was delivered by Lifesaving South Africa (LSA) and their sponsor DHL Africa.
‘’This is a really good present for our club, and for the public as a whole. This is also going to bring a professional look and feel to the lifesaving duties on the beach,’’ said Kuys.
Local ward councillor, Peter Helfrich also welcomed the much-needed mobile lifeguard trailer. He also thanked the City of Cape Town, and the local lifeguards for all their efforts in ensuring the safety of residents in and around water on the beach.
‘’I have been involved with lifesaving at this club and in other parts of the Western Cape for the last 21 years. I know exactly how harsh weather conditions can affect lifesaving duties on the beach. This trailer will really go a long way in protecting our lifeguards from those conditions, but it will also result in a situation where they remain completely focused on the safety of our beachgoers regardless of weather conditions,’’ said Helfrich.
According to LSA, the purpose of this trailer is to ensure that voluntary lifeguards and municipal pro lifeguards can provide an efficient and professional duty service to the public at select beaches. The trailer provides a secure facility for lifesaving equipment, flags and rescue equipment and is placed at the duty area to ensure that the lifeguards are highly visible and able to attend to incidents safely.
The current lifeguard facilities provided by the City of Cape Town are no longer able to be utilised and the voluntary lifeguards are not able to secure their equipment and belongings without decent clubhouse facilities.
LSA together with DHL Africa have produced three lifeguard trailers to assist the voluntary clubs until such time that fixed buildings can be provided for the lifeguards by the relevant municipalities.
LSA director, Melvyn Shaw said: ‘’initially, we are in the process of handing over three trailers to three of our Cape Town clubs, however, nationally, there are many clubs which do not have decent clubhouse facilities yet, they perform voluntary duties under umbrellas, gazebos and in some instances from the boots of their cars.
“Nationally voluntary lifeguard duties contribute thousands of hours to the municipalities, tourism and hospitality industries and we estimate that LSA contributes over R50 million worth of aquatic safety, saving thousands of lives,’’ he said.
LSA as a voluntary organisation requires sponsorships from corporates and government in order to provide its members and clubs with training, facilities and equipment to perform duties to the highest standards so that citizens and tourists are kept safe and drownings are prevented.
‘’With sponsors such as DHL Africa, we are able to take care of our voluntary members and clubs. We hope that the municipalities and tourism authorities nationwide deliver on their mandates of providing decent lifeguarding facilities for the voluntary clubs,’’ Shaw added.
Weekend Argus