A 10-year-old boy drowned in the Western Cape fishing town of Gansbaai on New Year's day, one of several water-related emergencies reported by the National Sea Rescue Institute.
In a roundup on Thursday, the NSRI said its Hermanus team was activated to reports of a drowning incident near Gansbaai. Prior to arriving on the scene, Western Cape government paramedics confirmed that the child had suffered a fatal drowning.
Also on Wednesday, Eastern Cape emergency services attended to a 10-year-old girl at Kleinemond East River after the paddle board she was on with her father capsized, while in East London a three-year-old child was rescued by Buffalo City metropolitan municipal lifeguards at the Gonube River mouth.
Other incidents were reported in Port Elizabeth, Strandfontein and Strand Beach, where a 25-year-old woman was in a critical condition after nearly drowning.