Thirty-nine people reached safety: a weekend of Western Cape rescues by the volunteers of the NSRI

A rocky outcrop that is walkable at low tide can become an island when the water rises — which is how a father and his nine-year-old son, out fishing near Ganzekraal on South Africa's Western Cape coast, found themselves stranded and calling for help. Volunteers of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) at Yzerfontein answered: a rescue vehicle towed the craft JetRIB Janine to the launch site, and a rescue swimmer was put onto the rocks to reach the pair. The boat made two careful trips — father and fishing gear first, then the boy and the swimmer — and by 17:00 both were ashore, neither needing further assistance. It was one of two sea emergencies the NSRI's Western Cape volunteers handled in the same operational period, and together the operations brought 39 people safely back to land.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: community action