Preparations for the upcoming festive season in Durban has begun, after the City was spotted sprucing up a section of the Durban beachfront this week.
Durban businessman and long-time resident Jean-Marc Tostee shared a post on his company social media, SurfHQ, about City employees working on the paddling pools on the beachfront, just opposite the Tropicana Hotel.
This is a highly popular place during the festive season, which draws thousands of visitors from across the country.
“I was just doing my daily surf patrol and it was awesome to see work on the South beach paddling pools had started. The painters were there, they stripped and filled out the concrete where necessary. They got some bright blue paint in there to freshen it up,” Tostee told IOL.
“They [employees] said to us they are working on all the pools. Its actually nice that they are getting an upgrade because they have been empty for a while, since Covid I think.”
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson, Gugu Sisilana confirmed that it started working on the paddling pool upkeep ahead of the festive season.
“This is the South Beach paddling pool. We are finalising giving the pool a facelift in terms of repainting it, repaving the pool area, revamping the supervisor’s office, painting the outside and inside walls of the pool,” Sisilana told IOL.
“This pool is still operational and functioning and we should be in a position to open next week and be ready for the start of the festive season.”
The area surrounding the pools have been zoned off while employees continue with the upgrade.
With tourism being a major contributor to the metropolitan GDP and the KwaZulu-Natal province as a whole, the City also went forward with a R200 million investment project to breathe new life into one of the world's most popular beachfronts.
But some of the old had to be removed before the new could step in, and thus, residents had to say goodbye to popular spots like Bike n Bean, Circus Circus and Minitown, the Daily News reported.
Around four new entertainment spots are going to come up in the near future, including North Beach lifestyle, Durban Beach Cafè, and another restaurant yet to be named, according to Thapelo Mmusinyane, head of the Real Estate Unit at the municipality.
A mixed-use development property is expected to be developed at the Minitown site.
The restaurants are expected to have a lease of just under 10 years, while the Minitown development will sign a 30 year lease.
“The vision for the area is captured in the Municipality Inner City Local Area Plan which encourages developments that should promote a mix of interesting, vibrant and exciting leisure activities during the day and in the evening that will attract both residents and visitors,” Mmusinyane said.
IOL