About 4 people died as a result of drowning.
Three people were rescued, while the search is still on for three young males.
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) confirmed that as of Saturday morning, the 03rd of January 2026, three of the fatalities were confirmed at Pennington Beach.
They are from a mass drowning incident, which occurred at around 18:20 on Thursday, 01 January 2026, when a group of bathers were gripped by a rip tide, whilst swimming near the Pennington Beach tidal pool.
A multi-disciplinary search and rescue operation was activated, made up of Umdoni Lifeguards, the South African Police Service (SAPS) Search and Rescue, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), and various emergency medical services.
Two young males (aged 21) were recovered on the evening of the incident.
Two (2) people were rescued alive and three (3) young males (all aged 21) remain missing.
Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, MEC for KZN COGTA, said “our hearts go out to the families who began the New Year with such devastating loss. We are mourning the young lives cut short by this tragedy. We also hold in our prayers the families of those who remain missing; our teams are doing everything humanly possible to bring closure to these households.”
The Department urges all beachgoers to remain vigilant and strictly adhere to the instructions of lifeguards and disaster management officials.
Picture: Supplied