The City of Ekurhuleni spokesperson, Lindiwe Khuzwayo confirmed on Friday that two of Umhlanga’s popular tourist beaches Umhlanga Main and Bronze Beach are closed due to two Portland pump station failures.
Khuzwayo mentioned that the city has found another pump which will aid the station to be functional again probably by the end of the week.
“This will stop the overflow to the beach and the water should clear in 48 hours. Therefore, this should not affect tourism during the school holidays,” said Khuzwayo.
Khuzwayo assured the media that they will keep both the residents and the tourists updated on the water test results. ActionSA’s eThekwini councillor, Alan Beesly mentioned that the situation of the beaches being closed could harm the City’s tourism sector that is already struggling as is.
“Tourism in the city is on the backfoot and beach closures ahead of school holidays is extremely worrying, especially for those who depend on an influx of tourists during these times to make a living,” says Beesly.
Beesly continued to say that the tourism in the City was down by 22% last December. He said that this year’s June and July holidays might also fall in a similar route as last December.
“Besides the sewage causing the beach closure, the smell of the sewage on several parts of the Umhlanga Promenade is unbearable. Umhlanga was meant to be a prime tourist destination. It is this type of destination, not only for eThekwini but for the entire province. Sadly, the experience of those tourists who visit Umhlanga is far from encouraging”, say Beesly
The tragic disaster that happened in April 2022 of floods influenced the situation at hand of sewage crisis. This was because the floods damaged and collapsed the already old infrastructures in Durban leaving the raw sewage to navigate its way to the rivers and the ocean.
The Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs reported and opened a case against high ranked executives of eThekwini Metro for failing to sufficiently speak and deal with the issue of sewage and water crisis in the City.
An executive department official in KwaZulu-Natal, Bongikosi Dlamini who is acting chief Director and director of compliance, monitoring and enforcement in the department submitted a court affidavit document responding to the crisis which also revealed the matter of the case that was opened against the high ranked executives.
The department mentioned in the court documents that the subject of infrastructure has long been a concern before the April floods in the year 2022. Political party ActionSA also approached the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban in attempt to convince the eThekwini Metro along with other government departments to resolute the ongoing issue of sewage crisis.
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Written by: Tshegofatso Ramaphoko
Images: Supplied
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