Cape Town - The Festive season is upon us, and eThekwini Municipality needs to work around the clock to ensure the city’s beaches are ready to welcome tourists.
Some of the beaches that remain closed until further notice are Westbrook, Bronze, Laguna, eThekwini, uMhlanga, uMdloti, Winklespruit and Ansteys.
The municipality has come under extreme pressure from the tourism sector, business and opposition parties to fix the sewerage infrastructure that was damaged during the floods earlier this year.
The sewage leaks have led to high E coli levels at some of Durban beaches.
City authorities responded by closing the beaches, leading to several businesses such as restaurants and hotels losing much-needed revenue.
Unlike Cape Town, which receives a big slice of international tourists, Durban relies heavily on local and southern African visitors.
If Durban beaches remain closed for the duration of the festive season, this will mark the death knell for the local tourism industry and the Kwa-Zulu-Natal local economic development as a whole.
According to recent research, the numbers of both local and international tourists visiting Durban are showing a rapid decline, due to a number of reasons.
The closure of our beaches will definitely exacerbate this downward trend. Sooner or later, tourists will be bypassing Durban for other destinations that are prepared to roll out the red carpet for them.
While the city’s deputy mayor Philani Mavundla and head of water and sanitation Ednick Msweli are optimistic that the infrastructure will be repaired and beaches will be open on December 1, it remains to be seen whether the water quality at our beaches will have improved by that time. Opposition parties, however, don't share Mavundla and Msweli’s optimism.
It would be a big blow for Durban if some beaches were not opened for the festive period due to poor water quality.
However, our advice is that the city should not rush to open the beaches if the sea water is still contaminated, as that will put the lives of thousands of people at risk.
Cape Times