Rip currents, after-hours swimming drive festive season drownings in KZN

By Lebone Rodah Mosima

The three people who drowned, and three who are still missing, after getting into difficulty in the sea at Pennington Beach, on the KZN South Coast, on New Year’s Day, were swimming after lifeguards had ended their patrol, Umdoni Local Municipality said on Tuesday, as rescue teams continued searching for the three missing men.

“Duty patrol concluded at 6pm, after which lifeguards left the beach,” Umdoni Municipality Communications Manager Sphelele Cele told Inside Metros.

According to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), the alarm was raised in the early evening when multiple people were caught in rip currents near the tidal pool.

“The Umdoni Law Enforcement personnel on site were informed of a drowning incident where lifeguards that were already off duty attended to this emergency and successfully rescued one female, [however], six people sadly drowned. To date, three bodies have been recovered and three