Anger m
ounts over yet another attack in False Bay
< >FONT size=4 

This sign at Muizenberg explains how the fl
ags work.

 Middle and right, the li
neup is deserted an hour after the attack took place

Sunday 13 Augus
t 2006

MUIZENBERG: Chaotic scenes cast a pall ov
er a calm, warm winter's day here as a shark attack caused
widespread panic.

A 24-year-old lifeguard, Achmat Ha
ssiem, lost a foot in the attack. The irony was that he was
playing a victim during a rescue simulation, swimming some
way behind the backline at Sunrise beach, about 800m furth
er down.

News of the attack swept up the beach like
a forest fire, and it took less than three minutes for the
entire shoreline at the Muizenberg Corner to disgorge a pac
ked lineup of surfers who paddled swiftly in, some catching
a last-minute wave, others half-running, half swimming ash
ore.

According to National Sea Rescue Institute (NSR
I) spokesperson Craig Lambinon, quoted on the Independent O
nline website, Hassiem was treated on the scene by medics f
rom the lifeguard club and flown to hospital by helicopter.


"Lifeguard medics had controlled the bleeding, elev
ated the patient's leg and had the patient in a stable cond
ition," Lambinon told IOL.

Hassiem's father, Moegsie
n, told IOL that Achmat's brother, Taariq, 17, was in the w
ater with him when the shark attacked and helped to save hi
m. Raariq was undergoing counselling.

It was a still
winter's day at the Corner - no wind and a clean 2-3' swel
l running. The beach was packed with surfers young and old,
including families and groups of youngsters having surf le
ssons. A commotion down the beach was largely ignored by th
e surfers, and when the panic set in, they had no idea who
had been bitten where and when.

Many people looked t
o shore to see if the flag status had changed, but the whit
e shark warning flag was not up yet, and responses were ini
tially slow.

However, the news was born by policemen
and sharkspotters who had been radioed the information. Ne
xt thing it was mayhem at the Corner, with people screaming
at loved ones to get our of the water, a helicopter buzzin
g overhead, and policemen and Patrick Davids the sharkspott
er running up and down the beach gesticulating  and wh
istling frantically.

Davids later told the crowds th
at the surf spot was closed for the day, although two young
surfers gingerly went in for a surf less than an hour afte
r the attack, but faltered halfway out and soon came back t
o shore.

Many surfers were scathing about the lack o
f interest from authorities, with inadequate support for th
e sharkspotters and a lack of resolve to aggressively tackl
e the issue of sharks.

According to IOL, six shark a
ttacks - three fatal - were reported around the Cape Penins
ula between 2003 and 2005. Two occurred deep sea, with four
in False Bay.

Angry Kommetjie resident John Bromley
said that the primary responsibility of government was the
protection of citizens. "The authorities are failing disma
lly in this area and instead address platititudes about 'un
derstanding' the sharks and greater numbers using the ocean
and tell us that they are not really vicious predators. Th
e latest unnecessary attack brings this back into focus.

"My 14 year old son has been out surfing during four G
reat White encounters in the last three years: Long Beach,
Jeffreys Bay, Witsands and Muizenberg (not Dungeons, Diaz b
each and Noordhoek Beach!). This is unacceptable to me as a
parent. In over 40 years of surfing I never saw one while
surfing.

"After years of protection, Great Whites ar
e multiplying and are an ever increasing threat to bathers
surfers, kayakers and divers and other legitimate ocean use
rs.

"Ask any diver or surfer. Don't ask the "experts
". They don't seem to know. No one says we should wipe the
sharks out but any logical person sees that there has to be
some control.

"Attempts to monitor have been inadeq
uate and do not provide re-assurance. There have been many
shark encounters not anticipated by monitors. What about Lo
ng Beach Scarborough and other beaches not monitored?
"Controlled culling is not about vengeance or cruelty. It
is about protection. The concern is only about Great White
s, no other species. Until there is adequate monitoring, wi
th warning systems or electronic barriers or shark nets, li
mited culling of sharks near popular swimming and surfing b
eaches (not their primary habitat) is the only rational ans
wer."

Deon Nel, aquatic unit manager at the World Wi
de Fund for Nature (WWF) told IOL that there were many vari
ables, but the one that "swamps all others is the increase
in recreational bathers in the water".

"It has incre
ased exponentially, specifically people who venture further
offshore. Surfing, surf-ski paddlers, and spear fishing ar
e popular sports. Improvements in wetsuits also mean more p
eople are in the water," Nel told IOL.

The city of C
ape Town was reported to be drafting a policy to guide the
safety aspects of people and sharks in False Bay.

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