Overview
- Multi-agency teams from the NSRI, police, lifeguards and medical services resumed operations on Saturday across Pennington, Ballito and Bluewater Bay.
- At Pennington Beach, two swimmers remain missing after a New Year’s Day mass incident, with four deaths previously confirmed, including an 18-year-old woman and two 21-year-old men.
- In Gqeberha, a 23-year-old man is unaccounted for at Bluewater Bay after he and his 19-year-old sister were caught in strong rip currents, with the sister rescued unharmed by a local fisherman.
- At Ballito’s Thompsons Beach, searches for a 40-year-old man swept from the surf zone have yielded no sightings despite NSRI rescue swimmers, a NAU Ballito craft and KDM lifeguards deploying boats and jet-skis.
- The NSRI has urged caution as a full-moon spring tide peaking on 5 January increases tidal variation and risk, with rising wind reported as a factor that may hamper visibility and safety.