Parents across Cape Town have declined to have their children “tagged” at City beaches as part of the municipality’s plans to safeguard them this festive season.
This was revealed by Mayco member for Community Services and Health, Patricia van der Ross, amid the release of statistics for the City’s Identikidz project.
Van der Ross says officials have been left dumbfounded by the refusal of some parents.
Van der Ross says: “Since mid-December the teams have been hard at work at the 16 designated beaches around Cape Town and tagged 48 957 children, of whom 65 were reunited with their caregivers. Over the Christmas long weekend, 5 095 children were tagged at Strand beach, 3 715 at Muizenberg and 3 237 at Strandfontein.”
Van der Ross says she made the discovery while at Muizenberg beach this week when she heard a parent declining.
Van Der Ross says: “When the parent was approached by staff, she declined saying that she was there to look after the children. When we looked into this with staff allocated at other beaches we found that it was happening in Camps Bay, Strand and Milnerton as well.
“Most of the parents did not really give a clear explanation about why, just saying that they are present to watch their children.
“It is important to stress that a child can disappear quickly on a crowded beach and this project is by no means a commentary on parenting skills, but it is there to create an extra layer of security for the parents and children.
“In some cases where we reunite children, the parents had no idea that they [the children] had wandered off in the first place.”
dailyvoice@inl.co.za