The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is a registered non-profit organisation that is committed to drowning prevention and focused on saving lives, changing lives and creating futures for those threatened by drowning in South Africa. We are unique in South Africa as the only non-profit organisation focusing exclusively on safeguarding lives and livelihoods in South African waters through education, prevention, and rescue operations. We envision a nation where drowning incidents are minimised, ensuring the safety of all.
The NSRI strives to innovate, constantly evolve, and extend our water safety initiatives through empowerment and visibility. Our volunteers are on call 24/7 and are reliant on donations and sponsorships.
An overview of our organisation, its history and people.
The NSRI is manned by over 1300 unpaid volunteers at 131 service locations, including satellite or auxiliary stations, inland dams and lifeguarded beaches.
We mobilise for swift-water and flooding scenarios, fires on vessels, and medical evacuations off ships. We assist commercial trawlers and leisure yachts. We mobilise for fishermen, swimmers, anglers, hikers, paddlers and surfers and achieve our purpose of saving lives, changing lives, and creating futures through water safety education, survival swimming lessons and active rescue.
Our volunteer sea-going crew and survival swimming squads, along with our dedicated full-time water safety personnel and professional seasonal lifeguards, form the backbone of our operations. We also have an Emergency Operations Centre at our head office and a team of dedicated fundraisers who maintain communication with our donors and supporters. We’re a people’s organization, driven by the passion and commitment of our volunteers, constantly innovating and expanding our footprint to serve our communities through preventive services and education.
Help us save lives on South African waters.
The NSRI couldn’t operate without your support. Each life saved and child educated is thanks to your contributions and donations
For general enquiries
In the seventh of a series of stories on NSRI bases around the country, we chat to a few crew members at Station 8 (Hout Bay) to find out more about the base and its family of volunteers.
The NSRI walked away with two awards at the recent International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) Awards. The winners have also been nominated for Peoples’ Choice Awards, so get voting!
In the sixth of a series of stories on NSRI bases around the country, we chat to a few crew members at Station 7 (East London) to find out more about the base and its family of volunteers.
When five members of a family join the NSRI, you know that together they will be an unstoppable force!
In the fifth of a series of stories on NSRI bases around the country, we chat to a few crew members at Station 6 (Gqeberha) to find out more about the base and its family of volunteers.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a lifesaving technique that is critical to know how to do in many emergencies such as drowning. Donnalee 11, from Ceres was 8 years old when she drowned in a farm dam. “Four boys saved my life by doing CPR on me, I can’t remember anything about it, but my friends say that they pulled me out of the water and rescued me,” she explains.
