Community Gathers to Give a Final Tribute to Lifesaving Legend Gabie Botha

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Gabie Botha survived two shark attacks, wild waters and devoted himself to saving lives. Though gone, his memory lives on. Loved ones and fellow lifesavers recently gathered to scatter his ashes in the very waves that had shaped his life.

Durban, South Africa (05 September 2025) – Gone but certainly not forgotten, Gabie Botha lived a life that stood as a shining example of courage and devotion, dedicated to saving others in the unpredictable waters that fed his passion.

Having braved the wildest of waters and survived two harrowing shark attacks, Gabie’s commitment to lifesaving turned the ocean into both his sanctuary and life’s purpose.

Recently, loved ones gathered to honour his last wishes and pay tribute to this extraordinary man, scattering his ashes in the very waves that had shaped his remarkable journey just outside the Pirates Lifesaving Club in Durban.

“He’d been a member of the club from when he was 16 years old until the age of 91, when he passed in 2016. His whole life revolved around lifesaving and the beach. He was a member of the Pirates Lifesaving Club and was Secretary for the World Lifesaving Association back in the 1970s. He also served on the Bravery Awards Committee for Lifesaving,” shares Gabie’s son Andrew, on just a few of the organisations his father devoted himself to.

One of the remarkable highlights of Gabie’s life was surviving not one but two shark attacks at the same beach just three years apart.

“The first attack was in March 1944 off Durban’s Country Club Beach, where Pirates used to operate before they moved to Battery Beach. It was in the late evening while bodyboarding that a shark took him on his thigh. His friend and co-lifesaver helped him to the shore, where he got medical assistance.

“He survived that, and it didn’t deter him from going back in the water. Three years later, in March 1947, he was taken again at the same beach, but this time on his foot and buttocks. He managed to get to the shore and sought help from bystanders, and lifeguards rushed him to the hospital,” shares Andrew with us.

Reminiscing on his father’s passion, Andrew jokes that he believes the shark attacks only fuelled Gabie’s love for the ocean even more.

Gabie was a man of great value. He gave his all to saving lives and participated in epic swimming competitions, even well into his old age.

A large crowd of people attended his ash scattering ceremony to pay their last respects, speaking to the incredible impact Gabie’s life had on the community.

Andrew and his brother went out on a “rubber duck” (a lifeguard patrolling vehicle) with the ashes, while a crew of lifesavers went out in a surf boat, and others on paddle boats to pay tribute to a man who had inspired and left a mark on each of them.

Andrew recalls the water being nice and calm as they scattered the ashes.

“You just saw these ashes spreading away, and it was such a special moment for my dad because Pirates was his life. To be able to send him off like that was a great experience for us.”

In a light-hearted tribute to his character, warm beer -Gabie’s preferred way to enjoy it- was also poured into the water, a final, fitting toast to a man who truly lived life on his own terms.

Gabie’s memory lives on, and his family hopes that those who knew him will always remember him for his devotion to a cause he held so dear.