Home is where the beach is for Salt Rock lifesaving club founder, Steve Honeysett

Blonde ‘surfer boy’ Steve Honeysett has been a fixture on Salt Rock beaches for the past 35 years.

Steve has a first-class pedigree in beach life: his father was beach manager at Umhlanga and one of South Africa’s first surfboard shapers.

By the age of 8, Steve was a nipper and, landing his first part-time lifesaving job at Ballito under Glen White at the age of 17 set him on the path of making the beach his career.

When Salt Rock beach needed a full time lifeguard in 1986, Steve got the job, but it was very rough and ready.

There was only a toilet block next to the beach and he had to carry his equipment across from the municipal offices next to the library.

His lookout point was a beach umbrella and it was only later that a wooden shack was built for his office.

Steve then set about forming the first Salt Rock lifesaving club with the help of locals Eric Casey, Rusty Lavery and Louw Erasmus.

They trained local kids so that they could have lifeguards for other beaches, like Thompson’s Bay, to be open full-time.

Tinley Manor, Blythedale and Zinkwazi were under a different municipality at that time but they were sending some of lifeguards there during the holiday seasons.

One of the kids who was trained by him is today’s KwaDukuza municipality lifeguard superintendent Bongani Xulu, as well as many of the lifesavers working on the Dolphin Coast today.

“They have now grown up and have their own families.

I am now dealing with the management and left the active lifeguarding to Xulu and other guys,” said Steve proudly.

Besides lifesaving, Steve earned provincial colours for surfing, having started the first surfing club in Umhlanga.

He competed in the 1981 Gunston 500 (now called the Ballito Pro) and was KZN longboard champion for 3 years.

He later took on stand-up paddleboarding and was the KZN champion for 3 years in the 12 foot 6 in division.

One of his stand-up paddle adventures was paddling from Maputo to the Mozambique border over 5 days.

Recently, at the age of 59, he got into fat-biking and has completed beach rides from Kosi Bay to Saint Lucia and Mtunzini to Umhlanga.

“I just love being at the beach and every day is an adventure for me.

I like to encourage young people who are coming into the sport, be it surfing, paddling or whatever that it is, and help them because you can never get tired of the ocean.

There is so much to enjoy – the sharks, whales and all the animals.

When you pursue a career in the ocean and you get in touch with these animals.

I have several encounters with sharks. I am not an expert but I have learnt over the years how to react and behave while in the sea.

“Some memorable moments over the years include the 1987 floods, when all the lifeguard towers were damaged and corpses washed up on the beaches, mainly from washed out cemeteries.

He also talked about the great train accident that happened in Groutville in early 2000 and being called on to assist.

“After that, a trauma counsellor was called to counsel us. After hearing some the things we go through as lifeguards, she was surprised why we had not received counselling before.”

“In 2009 a great storm wiped out the Ballito promenade and lots of buildings were destroyed. When I was called early in the morning I thought the guys were pranking me, but when I arrived at the beach the waves were so high they were going over the main road to the Salt Rock library and all our equipment was wiped out.”