Pretoria: 06 August 2024

South Africa’s national campaigns for prevention of drownings, be it at sea or in any bodies of water, remain essential to safety of life, according to the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA).

SAMSA’s message was relayed during the marking of the World Drowning Prevention Day 2024 on 25 July, a day on which the organisation joins a wide range of campaigns aimed at promoting water use safety, be it at sea or in the inland water ways.

In a brief interview on SAMSA support of initatives to prevent drowning, Chief Operaitons Officer, Mr Sobantu Tilayi, said SAMSA has mandatory regulations that require among other things, that vessels must have lifejackets on board, and life rafts that will be used in case of an emergency.

Of SAMSA’s legislated mandate, a key objective is to protect life and property at sea and this is part of SAMSA’s strategic plan, which includes ensuring shipping adherence to safety standards, practices and international conventions in waters by both foreign and national flagged vessels.

In this regard, Mr Tilayi cited the successful search and rescue and safe evacuation of 18 Filipino seafarers in July 2024 shortly after their general cargo vessel, the MV Ultra Galaxy listed heavily and eventually grounded in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean along South Africa’s west coast.

However, in addition to enforcing regulations on the use of safety tools and equipment on vessels and related, SAMSA also directly contributes to safety campaigns that promote the prevention of drowning. These include sponsorships of swimming lessons, or partnerships with other institutions in government – such as municipalities, or non governmental, with focus on the aspect.

This, he says, closely aligns with the World Health Organisation (WHO) efforts to raise awareness on the six (6) evidence-based, low-cost drowning prevention interventions that countries and organizations can use to drastically reduce the risk of drowning. Among these, is the teaching and training of school-aged children on basic swimming, water safety and safety rescue skills and resuscitation

“SAMSA being the authority charged with ensuring the safety of life at sea, inland waters, dams, and wherever we use floating crafts, boats, big ships; we have a responsibility to prevent people from drowning.

“Now, the context; is we have the biggest population of people floating out at sea, whether they are working on ships, or boats do fishing. We operate the search and rescue centre, MRRC, in Cape Town.  Once we hear or get alerted to people distressed out at sea, we must coordinate that they get to safety, so we have to search if we do not know where they are but if we do, we must coordinate their rescue.”

For his full brief chat, click on the video aove.

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