The Bay of Plenty is one of 17 beaches opened to the public while six other beaches have been closed as a result of high E.coli levels. File Picture: Terry Haywood
While the eThekwini Municipality has made significant progress in restoring infrastructure damaged during the recurring flood disasters since April 2022, the dumping of foreign objects and infrastructure vandalism and theft remains a massive thorn in the City's side, often leading to the closure of beaches as result of high E.coli levels.
This week, the Democratic Alliance (DA) sounded the alarm over the closure of six beaches as a result of high E.coli levels.
DA spokesperson for Tourism, Haseena Ismail said the latest closures of Battery Beach, Country Club Beach, eThekwini Beach, Laguna Beach, Ansteys Beach and Reunion Beach due to the presence of high levels of E. coli has severe consequences for sustainable tourism in the region.
"The closure of 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," she added.
Ismail said at the root of the problem is the City's broken sewer system that releases untreated waste water into the ocean. She said water-borne pollution poses significant health risks to tourists, residents, and employees, including lifeguards.
City spokesperson, Gugu Sisilana, explained that the municipality continues to suffer relentless theft, vandalism and abuse of sewer infrastructure as a result of communities dumping foreign objects that block sewers and cause overflows. This, Sisilana explained, further leads to infrastructure failures.
She said 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.
"We continue to urge residents and business to change their attitude and stop introducing foreign objects into the City’s sewer systems as they are only designed to handle water, human waste and tissue. In most cases sewer blockages which leads to overflows are caused by hardened oil fats, rags, disposable nappies and many other foreign objects. This has an impact on beaches," she said.
Sisilana noted that river and beach water quality 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 stormwater drains, which wash pollutants into the river and sea.
"It is critical that communities practice proper waste management and desist from vandalising infrastructure because the pollution that humans create has a negative impact on the environment, rivers and beaches. We appeal to residents and businesses to dispose of waste appropriately and correctly, as these end up in the City’s waterways and pollute the system," Sisilana said.
For now, 17 City beaches are open to the public, including; Ushaka Beach, Point Beach, North Beach, South Beach, Bay of Plenty Beach, uMhlanga Beach, Toti Main Beach, Pipeline Beach, Warner Beach, Brighton Beach and Winklespruit Beach.
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