South Beach remains on of 17 beaches open to the public in Durban
(The Post News)- eThekwini Municipality is making a significant progress restoring the infrastructure that was damaged during the flood disasters since April 2022, the dumping of foreign objects and infrastructure vandalism and theft remains a massive thorn in the City’s side, which often lead to the closing of the beaches as a result of high levels of E.coli.
During the course of the week, an alarm was sounded by the Democratic Alliance (DA) over the closure of six beaches as a result of high levels of E.coli. Haseens Ismail, DA spokesperson for Tourism, said the latest closures of Battery Beach, Country Club Beach, eThekwini Beach, Laguna Beach, Ansteys Beach and Reunion Beach is because of the presence of high levels of E.coli which has severe consequences for sustainable tourism in the region.
She added that the closure of the beaches over the past three years, due to high E.coli levels, has already taken a significant toll on the tourism industry. The economic effects are far-reaching, affecting local businesses, accommodations, and activities that rely on tourism, with the entire water sport, yachting and sailing tourism sectors equally affected by these sewer spills.
Ismail says the root of the problem is the City’s broken sewer system which releases untreated waste water into the ocean, she further says water-borne pollution poses a significant health risks to tourists, residents, and employees including lifeguards.
Gugu Sisilana, City spokesperson had explained the municipality is continuing to suffer relentless theft, vandalism and abuse of sewer infrastructure as a result of communities dumping foreign objects that block sewers and causes overflows, which further leads to infrastructure failures.
Sisilana says all beaches in the City undergo bi-weekly water sampling and testing to ensure safety and beach water quality results are published on physical signage at the beach and on the Municipal website.
Sisilana noted that the river and beach water is affected by weather patterns and heavy rainfall increases E.coli levels due to excessive river contamination from pollution caused by the public and illegal sewer connections to the City’s storm water drains, which wash pollutants into the river and sea.
Currently, 17 City beaches are open to the public such as the Ushaka Beach, Point Beach, North Beach, South Beach, Bay of Plenty, uMhlanga Beach, Toti Main Beach, Pipeline Beach, Warner Beach, Brighton Beach and Winkelspruit Beach.
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