Keppel Barnard
Brian Quail
Angus Quail
Christobel Lester
Lester Coelen
Dr Lance Michell
Dr Stephen Craven
Dr Anthony Jones
The staff of the University of Cape Town Libraries Special Collections
The SAMA database exists to provide public and government bodies access to mountain accident related statistics in order to assist them in making decisions with respect to the provision of rescue services, signage, training and education.
The information contained in this database is in no ways complete. Various organisations contribute to the content but there is no one overall source of data. One should also bear in mind that the incidents reported are not all related to mountaineering but are drawn from all known incidents where rescue organisations have had to assist people in mountainous areas.
These statistics are therefore inferential, and should not be considered as "sample" data. It is also meaningless to compare these statistics to other "sample populations" involved or not involved in mountain activities as there is little or no data on mountain usage for recreational or other purposes in South Africa. The data and statistics provided here cannot be used for instance by insurance companies to weight premiums, as the statistics are not a sample of the population.
