Cape Town – The City of Cape Town has committed to donating R60 000 a year to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI).
According to the deputy mayor and mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews, the donation is to compensate the non-profit organisation for its operational costs associated with the towing of marine wildlife that gets stranded along the coastline of Cape Town.
“The donation to the NSRI is facilitated through a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) that has been signed with the City’s Coastal Management Branch.
“The NSRI is always helping out with their vessels when whales get stranded on our beaches or rocks. The donation will assist with their fuel and operational costs. R60 000 may not seem like a lot of money, but we believe it will still make a huge difference.
“The NSRI offers an invaluable service to the public and Cape Town in general when it comes to marine emergencies, and even if all of this money is not used for the towing of marine animals, it will still be spent on worthy causes as the NSRI deems fit,” Andrews said.
He said the City valued the good relations it had with the NSRI and wanted to to keep building on this partnership to enhance ocean safety and responses to marine emergencies.
“The NSRI has a pivotal role to play when it comes to community education and awareness of the ocean environment,” Andrews said.
The agreement is valid until January 31, 2026, and may be renewed at the end of this period.
NSRI chief executive Dr Cleeve Robertson thanked the City for the financial contribution.
“Our NSRI volunteers, on duty 24 hours a day every day of the year, are proud to be part of the primary response network that makes up the CoCT Marine Animal Stranding Network and this financial contribution benefits these combined efforts in making a difference as one community with this shared common goal,” Robertson said.
In an emergency contact the NSRI at 087 094 9774.