Leading and learning in South Africa

In September, 24 participants from 10 countries travelled to Cape Town, South Africa, home to the headquarters of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), who are the South African equivalent of the RNLI. They were there to take part in the RNLI’s Leaders in Lifesaving course, co-hosted for the first time with the NSRI.

Strengthening vital relationships

The RNLI has been hosting thiscourse annually since 2022, having recognised that many smaller organisations working in drowning prevention wanted support with similar issues. The course aims to enable attendees to increase their leadership knowledge and skills, improve their understanding of global drowning prevention, and deepen their understanding of technical lifesaving skills. By co-hosting with NSRI, participants from across Africa – where the drowning burden remains among the highest in the world – had the opportunity to meet with NSRI and RNLI experts working across lifeguarding, search and rescue, and community water education programmes in settings similar to their own.

‘I’ve enjoyed everything about this course,’ said Simon Kwesiga, Marine Safety Officer for the Ministry of Works and Transport, Uganda. ‘There has been so much great engagement, and I’ve learned so many things that are directly relevant to my day-to-day work. One of my duties is developing policy to coordinate search and rescue services on Uganda’s Great Lakes, so understanding how the system works in South Africa is invaluable.’

During the week-long course, participants learned how the work they do contributes to reducing drowning deaths globally, undertook leadership training that covered leading yourself, leading teams, and leading organisations, as well as visiting an NSRI rescue station and the South African Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC). The Leaders in Lifesaving course strengthened vital relationships to help tackle and reduce drowning globally. It was also a fantastic opportunity for the NSRI and RNLI to improve their services by learning from each other and other lifesaving organisations who participated.

Learning goes both ways

As the lifeguarding season in UK and Ireland came to an end in September, lifeguards in South Africa were preparing for the start of their season. In the 25th anniversary of RNLI Lifeguards, RNLI Regional Lifeguard Lead Carl Harris was among the Leaders in Lifesaving participants. He commented: ‘There are plenty of similarities between the RNLI and NSRI lifeguard services. One difference is that they run lifeguard training for local youth to support them into lifeguarding jobs in areas where work opportunities are limited.

‘Sometimes that training has to include financial management skills, or education on nutrition so that lifeguards know how to maintain the energy they need to carry out their demanding work. It made me think about some of the challenges our lifeguards might be facing beyond their shifts, and how we can better support them to make sure they are ready for the important job that we need them to do.’

That learning goes both ways. ‘The leadership training delivered by RNLI about giving feedback in a way that allows team members to understand the impact of their actions and how they can change their actions to get a better outcome was definitely something I will be using in my work,’ said Mthe Kweyama, NSRI’s Head of Community Programmes. ‘Seeing how different organisations here all fit into the global effort to end drowning made me realise that the drowning prevention family is much bigger than just the NSRI.’

The Leaders in Lifesaving course is just one way that RNLI is working in partnership to share our knowledge gained over many years of successful operation, while continuing to learn from other organisations working towards similar goals around the world.