Community
BM Parts — Community
On call, in the dark, for free.
The National Sea Rescue Institute has been pulling people out of South African waters since 1967 — entirely on volunteer time, entirely on donated funds. We're proud to use our small corner of the community section to point you toward them.
Who they are
South Africa's only dedicated drowning-prevention charity.
The NSRI is a registered non-profit built around one job: keeping people alive in South African water, coastal and inland. Their crews respond to everything from capsized boats and swimmers in trouble to flood rescues far from the coast, and they never charge the people they save.
Nearly 1,500 volunteers crew more than 50 rescue bases along the coastline and at inland dams, backed by a small operations team and a growing fleet of sponsored rescue craft, vehicles and equipment. None of the rescue crew draw a salary. The organisation runs almost entirely on public donations and sponsorship.
Beyond rescue call-outs, the NSRI runs water safety education and survival swimming lessons in under-resourced communities, and distributes free Pink Rescue Buoys at drowning hotspots around the country — simple, low-cost flotation devices that bystanders can throw to someone in trouble.
What that looks like
Rescue, prevention, and everything that keeps the coastline honest.
Sea & inland rescue
Volunteer crews launch at any hour to reach capsized boats, stranded swimmers, flood victims and medical emergencies on the water — at no cost to the people they rescue.
Water safety education
NSRI teams visit schools and under-resourced communities nationwide, teaching survival swimming and basic water safety before an emergency ever happens.
Prevention on the ground
Pink Rescue Buoys at known drowning hotspots, seasonal beach patrols, paid lifeguards in summer, and the free SafeTrx safety app for anyone heading out on the water.
The NSRI exists because of a single storm. In 1966, three fishing boats went down off Stilbaai near Mossel Bay, and seventeen fishermen drowned. A Simon's Town resident whose own life had once been saved at sea helped turn that tragedy into an organisation — and by 1967 the National Sea Rescue Institute was launched. It has been volunteer-run and donation-funded ever since.