WITH the Emergency Management Services having recorded and responded to over 20 drownings and near-drowning incidents between September 2022 and November 2023 within the City of Joburg, they took it upon themselves to educate the public about water safety.
They launched the Safety Water Campaign at Orlando West swimming pool in Soweto.
The launch, which took place on Tuesday, 5 December, aims to reduce drowning and water-related incidents throughout the city.
The focus was on encouraging the community of Joburg to refrain from conducting baptism ceremonies and rituals, swimming, and crossing flooded rivers.
EMS spokeswoman Xolile Khumalo told Daily Sun that the water safety campaign focuses on alerting the community, pastors, izangoma and anyone who finds themselves performing rituals at the river.
“This is so that they can be safe while performing rituals and to abstain from immersing a lot of people in the water at once, and to be cautious on how the weather is on that day. They should know if it has rained or it will rain,” she said.
Pastor Peter Shabalala said that it's important that people know how to be safe in water.
“We don’t just get into the water without any knowledge, because if we do that we will be in trouble, and the chances of us not returning would be very high."
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He said that churches must be educated on how to baptise their members without risking anyone’s life.
“One can’t perform their duties in dirty water. You must check what’s inside and then perform your duty,” the pastor said.
He said that people should stay away from shallow waters as it is dangerous.
“If you are baptising in the river, the water needs to be clean,” he said.
Sangoma Gogo Nomahlubi Ngwenya said that gogos and mkhulus must be aware of the kind of rivers they are at when performing their rituals and cleansing people.
"When we go to the rivers, we mostly go there to cleanse the spirits so that there may be light in that person’s life. I advise my fellow izangoma that when we go there, we must be led by the true spirit, the spirit of truth. One must pray before performing any ritual,” she said.
Gogo Nomahlubi said that water is dangerous.
“One must have asked abadala before proceeding with anything. Because sometimes even the clients carry spirits and when you get into the water something bad happens, because of what they carry."
EMS said that in 2022, the community of Joburg suffered a huge loss, where 16 congregants from a local church were swept away by flash floods in the Juskei River.
Recently, two young people lost their lives during a traditional ceremony in Klip River, Olifantsvlei, south of Joburg.
In another incident, a young boy drowned while crossing the Klip River on his way home from school.
