Local Shark Safety Initiative Needs Extra Funds To Stay Afloat (June 2011)

The local shark safety initiative, the Shark Spotters are continuously trying to raise extra funds through a series of fundraising events.

‘It makes a big difference to our budget when we have that extra money’ stated Sarah Titley, the Project Manager for the Shark Spotter’s Program.

The fund raising process started last year with a series of live comedy events, titled Comedy Legends in the Valley. With the likes of Mark Sampson and Barry Hilton, the first shows were very successful. The next show is due to take place on the 11th of June, with comedian Mel Miller, followed by another event featuring Peter Dirk-Uys in early July. This month’s show will be their fourth fundraising event.

‘We are left with the budget shortfall that we have to raise every year, so I started doing these fundraisers last year. The upcoming one looks like it will be successful, hopefully we will sell out as well’

Funded by the City of Cape Town and the Save Our Seas Foundation through an operating budget, they receive the bare minimum. Anything extra needed, (has to be funded by the program itself), with the assistance of different equipment sponsorships. They receive funds from various companies but it is not consistent.

‘We do get companies that come in and give us a bit of money every now and then. It’s not permanent funding though.

They are not official primary sponsors, they just give us funding when they can’ she stated.

The Shark Spotters program is Cape Town’s primary shark safety initiative. Their aim is to improve beach safety through a shark warning system and provide emergency assistance in the event of an attack in the Southern Peninsula. New radios were needed this year due to communication problems. With the assistance of the City of Cape Town and the Lifesaving Club, they should be receiving the expensive equipment shortly. The fundraising will help replace the money spent on the new radios.

According to Sarah, the program is running well, despite the budget constraints.

‘We’d also like to expand the program onto other beaches but without the money, there is just no way. A lot of other beaches have said that they are interested as well.’

Monwabisi Sikweyiya, the Field Manager for the Shark Spotters was one of the first original spotters. He has been with the program since it started in 2004. When asked if he thinks the program benefits the community, he replied: ‘Yes, it reassures the people that there is someone watching and the program itself has actually proven that it is the only effective system that we have in place, given the fact that we are now 968 shark sightings since the program began and only one fatality’.

‘We are so short and the management team is so small, to try do fundraising on top of making sure that everything runs properly, is really tough on us. There are lots of opportunities that we can’t reach so if people want to help, that would be great’ stated Sarah.

(Interviews and story by Gemma-Louise Wright, edited by Karen Jayes)