Water safety has become one of the most critical life skills for people.

This was highlighted by nearly 400 young people from the Northrand District of Scouts South Africa who pledged to participate in the 2026 National Challenge: Be Water Safe.

The challenge includes practical skills such as the Reach, Throw, Row, Go rescue method, safe use of personal flotation devices, risk assessments before water activities, emergency response planning, and community education initiatives.

This pledge was made on January 22 at Saheti School. It brought together Northrand’s Meerkats, Cubs, Scouts, and Rovers, aged 5 to 30 years, across northeastern Johannesburg.

These areas included Bedfordview, Bertrams, Modderfontein, Hillbrow, Eastleigh, Edenvale, Kensington and Primrose.

They all shared a vital life-saving goal: to raise water awareness, improve preparedness, and engage in meaningful community service.

According to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), South Africa experiences about 1 484 drownings every year.

The Be Water Safe challenge calls on Scouts to take action through three pillars:

• Awareness – Understanding local water risks and safe behaviours.
• Preparedness – Developing practical safety and rescue skills.
• Service and Responsibility – Sharing knowledge and leading community action.

The Be Water Safe National Challenge is supported by the Jaryd Payne Foundation and the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), reinforcing a shared commitment to drowning prevention and youth empowerment.

District commissioner for Northrand, Andrew Campbell, said they’ve got 13 groups of Scouts in Northrand. He said water safety is such an important issue nationally.

“We’ve seen the floods in Limpopo, in Mpumalanga and people dying in KZN. So it’s something South Africa needs to take a collective stand on and do something about it. If we could get just one child’s life saved, that would be worth all the effort.”

Northrand District’s collective commitment means that all thirteen groups within the district will integrate water safety learning into their 2026 programmes.

It will include age-appropriate activities in Meerkat Dens and Cub Packs, as well as advanced rescue techniques, scenario planning, and community service projects in scout troops and rover crews.

Campbell added that they have a couple of development groups where the Department of Social Development has partnered with Scouts SA.

So they’ve got a group in the Ponte building in Hillbrow and in the Johannesburg Children’s Home in Observatory, with a new group opening in Bertrams.

Campbell added, “These children generally don’t have access to swimming pools. We’re going to be putting together a programme which is going to be teaching inner city children how to swim.”

From the Scouts SA water awareness course, Campbell said he learnt things like people think people make a lot of splashing when they drown, but that is not the case; they just slip under the waves. Senior Scouts will be doing that course and will be learning how to actively spot drowning.

Part of the challenge for the older groups is to go and visit the NSRI base so they can learn about water safety from the NSRI themselves.

“I know that children have a lot on their plate. That being said, Scouts give your child the opportunity to learn something that they would not learn in school. Schools may not necessarily have the resources or skills around water safety, but we will do that,” said Campbell.

1st Bedfordview Scout Group Rover Jason Bailie said water safety is very important, especially in Scouts and across schooling, as children are interacting with water a lot.

“They go to friends’ houses with swimming pools, and if children don’t know how to swim or they’ve never been taught to swim, then it’s very dangerous. The reason being that I did a water training course and realised just how quickly someone can drown, in a couple of seconds,” Bailie noted. He added that the core of Rovering is service.

Therefore, they would bring service by teaching children about safety. They would also engage with municipalities and do an analysis on how they can improve the water safety in their areas.

A Scout from the Dlala Nje Scout Group in Hillbrow, Mbalenhle Masina, said water activities build awareness and trust.

1st St Benedict’s Cub Pack Cub Kyle van Zyl advised to always make sure you are being supervised by someone in a pool.

“Make sure you’re always aware, don’t run by pools or you can slip and hurt yourself. Always be careful not to dive into the shallow end of the pool. Always be careful of big waves in the ocean or the rocks,” Kyle advised.

His fellow Cub Cade Opie explained the importance of the buddy system, which applies in any scenario and said, “The buddy system is important because, say you go on a hike, and someone gets injured.

Then someone can go and help, and when you’re hiking, three people must come with you. One can stay with you, and two can go and get help.

A Meerkat from the 1st Harmelia Gardens Air Scout Group, Skylar Koekemoer, recited the emergency number 221.