With the holiday season in full swing, beaches in Cape Town have been packed with families enjoying the warm weather.

The Identikidz program, designed to help keep children safe at crowded beaches, has proven to be a success, reuniting 169 lost children with their families over Christmas and Boxing Day alone.

What Is Identikidz?

Coordinated by the City’s Community, Arts, and Culture Development Department, the Identikidz initiative operates across key beaches in Cape Town during the festive season.

The program focuses on providing children with identification wristbands, making it easier to reunite them with their families if they get separated in the crowds.

Tagging the Children at Popular Beaches

During the festive period, a large number of children were tagged across Cape Town’s beaches.

Strandfontein Beach recorded the highest number, with 3,264 children tagged, followed by Strand Beach at 3,183, and Monwabisi Beach with 3,005.

These numbers highlight how crowded the beaches were over the holidays, with many families visiting the popular spots.

Councillor Patricia van der Ross, the Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, emphasized that while the high number of tags shows how busy the beaches were, it’s also a reminder of how easy it is for young children to get separated from their families in such busy places.

Numbers Across Other Beaches

The Identikidz program expanded to other beaches as well, with the following numbers of children tagged:

Muizenberg: 2,904
Camps Bay: 1,933
Mnandi: 2,589
Harmony Park: 1,815
Gordon’s Bay: 1,486
Fish Hoek: 1,109
Milnerton Beach: 1,165
Melkbosstrand: 664
Silwerstroom: 893
Lagoon Beach: 332
Big Bay: 785
Maiden’s Cove: 183

How Identikidz Works

The process of registering children for the Identikidz program is simple and quick.

With consent from parents or caregivers, staff at registration desks provide children with wristbands that include their details.

These bands are then used to help reunite lost children with their families, ensuring a safer beach experience for everyone.

The program works alongside the provincial Department of Social Development, City enforcement agencies, and the South African Police Service to ensure that lost children are swiftly found and returned to their parents.

Encouraging More Families to Participate

Councillor van der Ross reassured parents and caregivers that their personal information is kept confidential and only used in the event that their child becomes lost.

She encouraged families visiting the beach in the coming days to make use of the Identikidz registration desks and ensure their children are tagged.

With more holidays and sunny weather ahead, it’s a great time for families to take advantage of this safety initiative.

This article was published on TDPel Media. Thanks for reading!

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