Big waves wash away a Cape Town man at the beach on New Year’s Day. Photo by Misheck Makora
THE New Year has started on a bad note for beachgoers after a man drowned at Table View beach in Cape Town on 1 January 2025.
The 46-year-old man from Philippi was washed away by waves. Good Samaritans, a father and his daughter, dived in to rescue him.
Though they managed to keep him afloat in the water until the arrival of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) lifeguards, when the boat finally arrived, paramedics found that the man was unresponsive. He was declared dead at the scene.
According to NSRI Melkbosstrand commander Hein Kohne, at about 12.34pm on New Year’s Day, they received a report about a drowning in progress.
Immediately, the NSRI Melkbosstrand duty crew and the City of Cape Town water rescue network were sent to the scene.
NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said that a man and his daughter, who tried to save the victim, had both been trained in lifesaving skills.
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“Upon arrival at the scene, rescuers on the shoreline reported a father and daughter, using an NSRI pink rescue buoy, had reached an adult man in the water, in the surf zone. He had been caught in rip currents while swimming, and the Good Samaritans, the father and daughter, were keeping the man afloat with the aid of the pink rescue buoy. The father has been trained in lifesaving and the daughter is a former BBSL lifeguard. They are locals.
“The lifeguards’ rescue boat reached them in the surf zone and took the casualty onboard their rescue craft and brought him to the shore – he was unresponsive. Once ashore, paramedics commenced CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) efforts on the 46-year-old man from Philippi, Cape Town,” said Lambinon.
The incident happened after the NSRI warned about the swelling ocean due to the new moon spring tide, which was expected to peak on 31 December 2024.
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