Tag system keeps children safe

A child receiving an armband at one of the City beaches.
A tag system will be used at Melkbosstrand, Big Bay and Milnerton beaches, along with 12 others, to reunite lost children with their families over the festive season.

The Identikidz project’s tag system will also be implemented at Muizenberg, Fish Hoek, Strandfontein, Gordon’s Bay, Strand, Monwabisi, Harmony Park, Mnandi, Sea Point and surrounding area, Silwerstroom, Camps Bay, and Lagoon Beach to help reunite lost children on priority beach days. 

It will run over 16 days: 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29 and 31 December 2019. 1, 2, 4, 5, 11 and 12 January 2020.

Mayoral committee member for community services and health, Dr Zahid Badroodien, said: “The Identikidz programme has grown exponentially as more people become aware of it, and the results are truly astounding. It provides peace of mind to parents on busy beach days, when children can so easily become lost in the crowd, but it also makes the task to reunite them far simpler.”

During the 2018/19 festive season, just more than 100 000 children were tagged at participating beaches – a 132% increase on the previous year.
A total of 535 children were reunited with their families.

All children, who arrive at the aforementioned beaches on the specified dates, will be registered and issued with an identification tag/armband so that they may be reunited with their family in the event that they get lost on the beach.