City services primed for long festive weekend
23 December 2025
Roads and public amenities will be key focus areas as Cape Town heads into the peak festive season celebrations. The public is urged to refrain from throwing caution to the wind.
The City’s festive season safety plan includes increased patrols on the roads and places of public interest, like CBDs, beaches and other public open spaces.
Officers have also kept close tabs on public transport vehicles leaving major interchanges on long distance trips.
Those operations resulted in 3 323 fines issued for various offences – most notably for not wearing seatbelts, unlicensed motor vehicles and drivers, and overloading.
The City’s liquor pound has taken receipt of 1 942.74 litres of alcohol (4 201 units) since 1 December, and the enforcement services have made at least 157 arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol.
‘These statistics will increase in the days ahead, which is unfortunate, considering how many times we’ve sung the same refrain about responsible behaviour, in particular around alcohol use. But, arrests, fines and confiscations are also indicators of the work being done to reduce harm. And, while some might feel that they can get away with behaving badly, this is not true for everyone. So you decide if you want to take that chance this holiday season,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
At the City’s waterside recreational facilities, lifeguards have recorded one first aid incident at swimming pools. Beaches, by their nature, have been far busier with 22 water rescues, 29 first-aid incidents and 13 incidents involving anti-social behaviour.
There were 11 non-fatal drownings. Three fatal drownings have been recorded in Cape Town, however, two are the subject of police investigations, one was bathing-related and none of these fatal drownings took place where lifeguards were on duty.
‘Another concern is that eight of the non-fatal drownings to date have been children aged between ten and seventeen. Please remember that children need to be supervised at all times, and make sure that they are aware of the dos and don’ts while swimming. Most importantly, let us all follow the instructions of the lifeguards at our beaches and pools this season, and do take advantage of the Identikidz programme. On busy days, it can take but a second for a child to become separated from their family or caregivers. Identikidz helps reduce the stress and anguish by making sure we can easily reunite them,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Francine Higham.
The Identikidz Programme registered 25 830 children to date, and reunited 30 with their caregivers.
The City reminds the public of its four golden rules of drowning prevention, which are:
- Swim only between the lifeguards’ red and yellow flags at beaches
- Do not bring alcohol to the beach and do not drink and swim
- Be alert to the dangers of rip currents
- Actively supervise children at all times, especially around water
More information is available here.
More details on the Identikidz programme are available here.
End
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
