Placed strategically on signs at selected inland rivers, dams and at beaches, these bright pink buoys act as a reminder to take care if there are no lifeguards on duty, and that in the event of someone getting into difficulty in the water, they can be used as emergency flotation until help arrives. Their bright pink colour allows them to be easily seen.
Each Pink Rescue Buoy is housed on a sturdy pole with signage showing how they should be used, as well as the NSRI’s emergency number and the buoy’s unique identification number, which helps rescue services to identify the location of the emergency. ID numbers and NSRI's contact telephone numbers are also embossed on the buoys themselves so they can easily be returned to their posts after usage, or if they are lost or stolen.
Watch the video below of how good samaritans battle the elements in race against time to save 2 fishermen with the help of a Pink Rescue Buoy.
A Pink Rescue Buoy costs R1 500 at our Online Store.
The NSRI has three core Drowning Prevention programmes – Water Safety Education, Pink Rescue Buoys and Survival Swimming – and offers a range of free resources and educational materials.
Become a Pink Rescue Buoy Custodian
Since the project started in November 2017, over 1 500 Pink Rescue Buoys have been installed around South Africa and more than 135 lives have been saved through their use. This would not have been possible without the generous support of donors and sponsors, and buy-in from city councils, municipalities and communities around the country. We urge everyone to please take care of them, and report stolen buoys to us by calling 087 094 9774, or filling out the form below.
“Untrained people are going to the aid of someone who is in danger of drowning despite being advised not to. Our Pink Rescue Buoys use simple graphics to explain that it is safer to throw the float to someone and call the emergency number on the sign for help. But if someone does go into the water despite being advised not to, they have a very good chance of survival if they take flotation with them. In the rescues that we have recorded no rescuer was injured and all rescues were successful”
NSRI is appealing to the public and seafarers along the Atlantic Seaboard, in particular between Camps Bay and Hout Bay, to be the lookout for an NSRI pink rescue buoy that may have washed out along the shoreline or may be adrift at sea.
Four recent rescues show that the NSRI’s ground-breaking Pink Rescue Buoy initiative is going full steam ahead.
Renaldo Arthur was sitting at the benches behind the trees in Kleinmond Harbour. When he heard shouting coming from the Harbour wall +-70m away. Investigating the commotion He noticed 3 people in distress in the water. So he ran over to the Harbour wall to try and help them, injuring his knee in the process.
On 19 April, 2023, at around 13h00, a Good Samaritan, using an NSRI Pink Rescue Buoy, assisted a female who appeared to be in distress in the surf line at Salmon Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, North Coast.
NSRI Lifeguard Training Coordinator Rebecca Carter-Smith recounts a recent rescue that – yet again – illustrates the value of the NSRI’s Pink Rescue Buoys.
A man who had been fishing off the West Pier was washed into the Kowie River by a wave, and soon it became a race against the clock for one NSRI rescue swimmer to save his life.
