Curtain falls on another successful instalment of Identikidz

22 January 2024

As the curtain falls on the latest instalment of the child safety project, the statistics show that more than 130 000 children were tagged this season – the highest over the past three seasons, and the 302 reunions makes it the lowest number of children lost in the last three years.

Identikidz has shown incremental growth each year, post pandemic.

During the 2021/22 festive season, Identikidz staff assisted and tagged 98 232 children and reunited 338 with their families.

During the 2022/23 festive season, 126 669 children were tagged for the duration of the project, with 403 reunited.

Most recently, staff tagged 133 730 children, with 302 reunions.

'We are incredibly proud of the Identikidz team and their achievements. They were out, weekend after weekend, in the hot sun, encouraging the public to sign up for the project. It is a mammoth undertaking, as we can see from the numbers, and their involvement in reuniting more than 300 children deserves our praise. I also want to thank the beachgoers who recognised the value that Identikidz brings, and who had their children tagged. We even had one incident where a young boy asked staff to tag his granny, after she had become separated from the family, and that is a wonderful testimonial. Thank you to everyone involved in the ongoing success of the project,' said Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Patricia Van der Ross.

By beach, Strand emerged as the busiest location once again, with 21 536 children tagged over the six weekends, and 67 reunions. Identikidz staff also helped reunite a five-year-old child with his parents, after he walked to the beach on his own.

Strandfontein had 17 903 children tagged, and 54 reunited, while Muizenberg had 16 803 children tagged, and 42 reunions.

'As we close this chapter of Identikidz, I do want to appeal to the public to please be vigilant at all times. Summer is not over, and there'll likely be a few more beach outings still, so keep an eye on the children in your care at all times,' added Councillor Van der Ross.

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office