Cape Town: The Identikidz programme introduced by the City of Cape Town during festive season got closed last weekend. Over 123,000 children were tagged with Strand, Muizenberg and Strandfontein emerging as the busiest among the participating beaches.
Identikidz programme was coordinated by the Community, Arts and Culture Development Department of the City of Cape Town.
Reportedly, the annual child safety intervention kicked off on Dec 14, 2024 and gave caregivers the option to register their children for added peace of mind while enjoying their beach days. The season’s instalment ran over six weekends as compared to the previous season which ran more than seven weekends.
Notably, the most recent campaign tagged 123,579 children and reunited 354 with their families. In total 11 children were handed over to the Provincial Department of Social Development as their relatives were not tracked down by nightfall. Last season, at the same time 120,932 children were tagged and 293 were reunited.
Moreover, Strand Beach emerged as the most popular and busiest beach once again with 19,741 children who were tagged over the period and 77 reunions. However, Muizenberg was in second place as 14,274 children were tagged with 72 reunions and Starndfontein came in third place as 13,878 children were tagged with 74 reunions. The three beaches were also accounted for 223 as 63% of all reunions.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Services and Health – Councillor Patricia Van der Ross said that they tagged nearly 3000 more children this season and the number of children reunited as increased by 61.
According to Ross, this is a proof of the value that Identikidz offers. The programme is also a reminder that caregivers have a responsibility to ensure that the children in their care are safe at all times, also during beach outings.
Patricia Van der Ross expressed, “I am very concerned that nearly a dozen children had to be handed over to social workers as the staff could not locate their caregivers by the end day. it begs many questions about child safety in general and not least of which is how anyone can go for hours without realising that their child is missing or not able to find them.