Yesterday afternoon the Municipality presented an Anti Pens Down Celebration – now the incongruity of hosting a party against a party is still something I grapple with but that is a thought for another day!
Anyway – on the VERY DAY of the Anti Pens Down Party at Hobie Beach we had the body of a 17 year-old male wash up on shore after a drowning incident at Brighton Beach.
Oh the incongruity of it all – one the one side of the bay we had people dancing and having a good time whilst over on the other NEGLECTED side of the bay we had this tragic incident. A young life wasted for the lack of lifeguards or even just an NSRI Pink Buoy.
On the one hand we had our Executive Mayor, Babalwa Lobishe, hamming it up for the photo op at the Anti Pens Down Vote gathering exercise and on the other not ONE official has commented on this tragedy – even after I directed a question to the NMBMM Head of Communications, Sithembiso Soyaya.
Now I have bitter experience of being totally ignored when asking questions on the NMBMM WhatsApp Media group and also when directing questions directly to various members (ratepayer funded municipal employees) of the NMBMM Communication Group.
Being ignored is par for the course in what I do – it just would be NICE to know the reason why. Could it be because of my age, gender, attitude or, God forbid, my race!
I am beginning to wonder if Young Lives Matter to the Municipality.
No, let me rephrase that, I am beginning to wonder if Young Lives Just Left School and ABLE to vote matter more than Young Dead UNABLE TO VOTE corpses.
Anyway, I posed this set of questions to Mr Soyaya yesterday morning and, to date, no reply/acknowledgement:
Good Morning Sir – would you be able to provide me with a comment about the drowning off of Brighton Beach with specific reference to what the city intends to do to help prevent such tragedies from occuring again. I am aware that the NSRI has a ‘Pink Buoy’ programme where Pink lifesavers rescue buoys are made available to the general public for just such an emergency as occurred yesterday. Will the City implement these and, if not, Why not.
BTW – I asked Nano Banana the following: “Create an image to compare, contrast and highlight the incongruity of the Nelson Mandlea Bay Municipality hosting an Anti Pens Down Celebration on Hobie Beach yesterday whilst the body of a 17 year old drowning victim washed up on shore at Brighton Beach.”
And the answer: “I cannot fulfill this request. My purpose is to be helpful and harmless, and that includes avoiding the generation of images that could be perceived as insensitive or exploit tragic events. The scenario you described involves a real-world tragedy (a drowning victim) and juxtaposing it with a celebration, which could be highly disrespectful to the victim and their family, and potentially cause distress.”
So there you have it – even AI recognises that the drowning was tragic – maybe we should swop all our Political Leaders (and staff) with AI Bots. It certainly seems as though AI, in this case, actually has empathy for the young 17 year-old who will never celebrate an Anti Pens Down Party or Christmas ever again.
NSRI Pink Rescue Buoy Initiative
The primary goal of the rollout is to provide an immediate, safe means of emergency flotation for a drowning victim in high-risk water areas that typically do not have lifeguards on duty.
Problem: Most drownings occur at unguarded beaches, rivers, or dams, and untrained bystanders attempting a direct rescue often result in multiple drownings (the rescuer also gets into trouble).
Solution: The Pink Buoy empowers bystanders to assist without entering the water themselves, dramatically improving the chances of survival for the victim until professional help arrives.
The buoys are highly visible, easy to use, and strategically placed:
Colour: They are bright pink to make them highly visible against the blue water and sand, ensuring they can be spotted quickly by both the person in danger and responding emergency services. The pink colour is unique to this NSRI initiative.
Location: Over 1,800 buoys have been placed across South Africa at drowning hotspots (beaches, rivers, dams) identified by the NSRI through incident data.
The Signage: Each buoy is housed on a sturdy pole with clear signage that provides three critical pieces of information:
Simple Instructions: Graphic illustrations showing a bystander how to throw the buoy to the person in distress.
Emergency Contact: The NSRI’s emergency number (or other local emergency services).
Unique Location ID: A unique identification number for that specific buoy/location, which the caller must provide to emergency services to ensure an accurate and rapid response.
The instructions for a bystander witnessing a drowning are simple and direct:
GET THE BUOY: Grab the nearest Pink Rescue Buoy from its pole.
CALL FOR HELP: Immediately call the emergency number on the sign, giving the unique Location ID of the buoy.
THROW THE BUOY: Throw the buoy to the person in distress. The key is to THROW, DON’T GO (an untrained person should not enter the water).
KEEP THEM AFLOAT: The buoy is designed to keep one to three people afloat while awaiting rescue.
The program relies heavily on community involvement and public donations:
Funding: The buoys (which cost approximately R2000 per unit, including the pole and sign) are funded entirely by corporate and public donations, making the project a gift from the community to the community.
Custodians: The NSRI runs a Pink Rescue Buoy Volunteer Custodian program, where local residents sign up to regularly check on the buoys in their area, ensuring they haven’t been stolen, vandalised, or damaged, and are always on the pole ready for use.
Since its launch in 2017, the Pink Rescue Buoy program has been instrumental in saving over 220 lives and has been recognised internationally for its innovation in drowning prevention.
