Cape Town: The Community Services and Health Directorate officially announces close of the ‘Identikidz Programme’ for this year. This programme aimed at keeping young children safe on beaches.
Reportedly, over 130,000 children were tagged during the festive season and the busiest participating beaches were Strand, Muizenberg and Strandfontein.
The Identikidz Programme was first introduced in 2016 and is coordinated by the Community, Arts and Culture Development Department. It has registered 129,377 children at participating beaches, this holiday season, in comparison to the previous season, which was over 124,500.
Also, the annual child safety intervention kicked off on Dec 15, 2025 that drew to a close on Sunday, Jan 18, 2026. The Identikidz gives caregivers the option to register their children for added peace of mind while enjoying their beach days.
It is implemented at 15 of the busiest beaches of Cape Town over the festive season, as well as Maiden’s Cove on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
For its last outing, observed this past weekend, 53 officials and 159 Expanded Public Works Programme staff members registered 4,794 children. The beaches that remained busy were Strand (831), Muizenberg (674) and Strandfontein (594) with no children lost.
This season, 227 reunions were observed. While five children were handed over to the Department of Social Development (DSD) as their caregivers, who were not located by the end of the beach day, as compared to 256 reunions and 11 handovers to DSD last year.
Identikidz programme has also grown with 133,730 tagged during 2023-24 and 124,582 during the 2024-25 season.
Considering this, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Services and Health – Councillor Francine Higham said that Identikidz has been a resounding success in keeping the younger bathers safe.
The beaches were busy and the programme delivered, provided the extra layer of protection. She commended the staff who were at their posts day-in and day-out.
Higham appreciated their efforts and thanked thousands of parents who trusted the programme, participated and registered their children. As more hot days are coming, they reminded parents and caregivers to keep an eye on younger children, especially over the weekends when they are visiting the beach or pools.
They encouraged everyone to continue putting their safety first and to remember the four rules of drowning prevention i.e. swim only between the lifeguards’ red and yellow flags at beaches; do not swim under the influence of alcohol; be alert to the dangers of rip currents; and actively supervise children at all times, especially around the water.