Boat owners who moor their boats in the Kalk Bay harbour are very unhappy this week as security in the harbour is reportedly at an all-time low.

Newspapers reported how local boat owner, Everett Schubert, lost his boat after children playing on it somehow managed to cause the vessel to sink.  Apparently this is not the first incident of children boarding and playing on boats moored in the harbour.  Local boat owners said that the fisheries department had appointed local company, Cape Town Boating, to control security in the harbour, but the contract had ended in September last year and no other company had been employed to take over the task.

Fisheries spokesman, Lionel Adendorf has been quoted as saying that the department is only responsible for the provision and maintenance of the harbour itself, and not for protecting private fishing vessels within the harbour walls.

Having tried to gain access to the port of Cape Town myself, which is no mean feat, I am amazed that young children have such easy access to vessels in the harbour in Kalk Bay.  Beyond the safety of the vessels moored there, what about the safety of the children playing in the water?  Surely that should also be of concern to all departments involved?