THE eThekweni Municipality could lose millions if it does not jerk up and fix the mess spilling into the ocean.
Dilapidated infrastructure has led to sewerage and faeces being an eye-sore to locals and visitors.
Recently, the Mayor of eThekweni Mxolisi Kaunda took a swim at one of popular beach’s to allay fears of what has been labelled E.coli waters, of which some referred as a City PR stunt.
The mayor – wearing a swimsuit – braved the waters and claimed that beaches are open to the public.
This, despite safety concerns over a sewage spill that contaminated the waters and led to closure for several months.
Durbanites did not take kindly to the Mayor’s behavior and have since deserted the oceans.
One of the manager’s in the Tourism agency at eThekweni Municipality, who did not want her identity revealed said she was very worried as this would impact negatively on tourism in the City.
“Already tourism in our City and countrywide is battered and we’re on recovery mode, suddenly we’re attacked by another problem. Imagine how many millions we’re about to lose by such ineptness, its enough, buti,” she said.
“We hope those with powers are hard at work to remedy this situation sooner or we must just kiss those Euros and Dollars good-bye. It can’t be like this yet again,” said the manager, who attended the South African Tourism Summer launch campaign in Sandton last night.
Professor Anthony Turton from the Centre of Environment Management at the University of Free State, says he is very sceptical about the decision to open the beaches.
“I am very sceptical when they say that part of the problem has suddenly been fixed. I’ve seen the footage recently, two days ago, with significant amounts of sewerage flowing directly to the ocean. I reject the fact that they can suddenly fix up the wastewater system at the drop of the hat,” says Prof.
He explains the technicalities of freshwater and seawater and the reality of their mixing together.
Freshwater and seawater have their own physical and chemical properties, so freshwater would then float and not easily mix with seawater. The two types of water will be driven by winds and wave action on the surface.
Freshwater is less dense than seawater so, the freshwater will float on the seawater without easily mixing.
“I will also fall back on the Blue Flag status because the Blue Flag is a complex reporting system and it’s about human safety and the safety of tourists. It is broken down into many different aspects, and one of the aspects is the quality of the water. Will the quality of the water impact negatively?” asked Prof Turton.
Attempts to obtain comments from the minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu drew blank at the ceremony, as she was shielded from engaging with media, for reasons best known to her team.
Be that as it may- the City’s economy is taking a severe knock as visitors are unwilling to head to the beaches, especially at this time of the year. Is it politics or what?
Some of well-known professionals in the eThekweni, confirmed to this reporter that they’re taking their families out of the City for holidays.
“I can’t bear the brunt of my family being subjected to such a mess,” said a visibly berated Dentist.
Image supplied (What went wrong at Durban beaches)?
