By Tabisa Mntengwana
5 January 2007

East London’s beaches once again proved popular with holiday-makers, with some 227 000 visitors spending time in the surf during the festive period.

Most popular of the city’s beaches was the Eastern Beach on the esplanade seeing some 190 000 revellers making the most of the sun and the sand.

And local law enforcement agencies were on hand to keep the peace. Superintendent Mtati Tana of the East London South African Police Service said: ”The police and law enforcement services were in full force, making sure holiday makers were safe on the beaches, on the roads and in the residential areas.”

A safety campaign went into operation on the Eastern Beach on Christmas Day, with safety officials handing out identity bracelets to parents to put on their children. The child’s name and contact details were recorded on each bracelet as a measure to help “find and identify a missing child,” according to a press release.

Tana reported that the campaign, which would continue until 17 February, had been “a huge success”.

Festivities in the residential area had also been low-key, with few incidents reported to authorities.

Compared to previous years, traffic volumes and the number of people visiting the beaches had increased noticeably, according to Buffalo City’s public safety general manager, Steve Terwin.

Local traffic and law enforcement services, along with the Arrive Alive programme, had worked to ensure safety on the roads over the holidays, running various campaigns including roadblocks. “The traffic and law enforcement services also ran other campaigns such as road closures and traffic control,” said Terwin.

More than 200 people were arrested for drunken driving, 50 for reckless and negligent driving, and almost 6 000 for exceeding the speed limit.

Other offences included driving without driving licence, unroadworthy vehicles and drunk and disorderly pedestrians.

Fire and rescue services were also busy, responding to accidents and fires. The emergency services responded to 162 calls during December.

“The community policing strategies were successful, with communities realising that reducing crime is not the sole responsibility of the police but also of the community,” said Tana.