Editor’s Note: Summer dangers loom

The first day of September heralds the official start of spring and if the past weekend’s weather is anything to go by, we are in for a warm summer.

This is of course most welcome, as Zululand’s main attraction is the fact that we are on the coast and can offer a host of water-related activities and recreation.

For example, Sunday saw the official opening of the sailing season and there were dozens of craft of all shapes and sizes out in the bay and at deep sea.

Other than air-conditioners, the only way Zululanders can get relief from our intense summer heat is to swim – either in private or municipal pools, or in the sea or dams – which sadly brings us to the inevitable drownings that occur each summer.

The most tragic part of this is that many, if not most, of these drownings involve children and in most cases were preventable.

Unfortunately, the various learn-to-swim type programmes are not well funded and reach only a few children.

Thus they are not ‘drown-proof’, and should they end up in water where they are unable to stand, the result is inevitable one of heartbreak.

Often, children are left unsupervised, adding to the potential danger.

Then there are swimming pools that are not properly fenced and locked, and dams and rivers where children are able to enter.

At the beaches, bathing where there are no lifesavers or when they have gone off duty, also adds to the annual drown toll.

Another perennial problem is the consumption of alcohol – one of the prime causes of adult drownings.

Let’s make a huge combined effort this summer to reduce the number of fatal incidents on the water, by obeying the rules and by being conscious at all times of the dangers that lurk.

And while we are on the topic of beach safety, it’s about time authorities started a crack-down against those who leave broken bottles at all the favourite family spots, such as Naval Island and the Bay Hall areas.