WATCH | Lifeguard’s rocky jet ski ‘show-off’ whips up a storm
A cellphone video of a KwaZulu-Natal lifeguard who appeared to run into trouble on his jet ski has gone viral, with onlookers saying he “had no idea what he was doing”.
But his employers have denied he was negligent, saying he had just received his skipper licence.
SA Maritime Safety Authority spokesperson Tebogo Ramatjie told Times Select the jet-ski operator had already received a warning related to the incident on Saturday.
“The operator of the jet ski has been warned and a letter of reprimand issued by the beach manager,” Ramatjie said.
Ryan Nienaber, who filmed the KwaDukuza lifeguard on his jet ski at Salmon Bay in Ballito, on the KZN North Coast, said he was fishing with his friends on Saturday morning when they spotted the lifeguard.
“This guy was like a skateboarder on a halfpipe. I don’t understand what he was doing there, he wasn’t responding [to an emergency], he was showing off – to a very small crowd.”
He said he started filming on his cellphone after the guard manoeuvred into the rocks for a second time and refused help from locals. “It was utter craziness, we were standing fishing when we saw him. The wave action was about 1.9m swell every eight seconds which made like a halfpipe. He could have injured someone.
“My friend Marius [Pienaar] offered to help; he knows this water well. After numerous tries, he [Pienaar] said: ‘Give me the keys.’ And he could have got him out of there.”
Pienaar said he believed the guard was showing off when he got into trouble.
“We were fishing on the rocks and had just landed a fish and cast the line back in when we saw the lifeguard and were like: ‘Jus! What’s this guy doing?’..
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