​The MMC of Public Safety, Cllr Michael Sun, officially launched the Water Safety Campaign at Eldorado Park Swimming Pool, yesterday, 29 October 2018.

The annual campaign aims to train residents on safety measures for avoiding emergency situations caused by water. The Department of Public Safety's Emergency Management Services (EMS) team has partnered with Swim South Africa to also teach residents especially young people how to swim.

As part of the campaign, the EMS team will also be conducting random home inspections to check if residents are complying with the EMS Water Safety by-laws which include having fencing around the pool or having pool covering. Also, inspectors will also be checking how close informal homes are built to the flood lines and requesting those who could be in potential danger should flooding occur to move their dwellings.

First Aid training will also be taught to residents across the City as the campaign rolls out to other regions.

"The summer season also brings about rainy weather which may cause flooding and it therefore very important for us as a Department to train and teach our residents on water safety and how to handle an emergency situation should one occur which why our partnership with Swim South Africa is key in teaching our residents how to swim and our first aid emergency training is important in teaching our residents how to respond to emergencies"

The MMC also highlighted how drowning incidents have significantly reduced.

"Last year we were able to reduce water related incidences by 18% and we hope that we will further improve on these numbers this year and hopefully have no drowning casualties for this summer season."

He also acknowledged the schools that took part in the launch of the Water Safety Campaign

"It’s very impressive to see how enthusiastic the schools in Eldorado are about water safety. A big thank you to Eldorado Park Primary School, Heerengracht Primary School and Wings of Dove Pre-Primary School for their participation today"

Cllr Michael Sun

MMC: Public Safety

City of Joburg

Media Enquiries:

Luyanda Longwe

Stakeholder Manager: Office of the MMC for Public Safety

luyandalo@joburg.org.za

061 4960 536