LEADER of the DA in eThekwini, Councillor Nicole Graham, met with the City Manager, Sipho Nzuza, and various officials to discuss the state of Durban’s beaches what can be done to keep them in the best possible condition going forward.
Beachfront activist Johnny Vassilaros and Mike Frew from the surfing fraternity were also invited to attend the meeting and provide valuable input.
The meeting follows a storm of outrage by Durban’s residents in March this year when ongoing sand erosion had left North and Dairy beaches completely devoid of sand. According to officials, the landscape of the current harbour and coast means that regular sand pumping needs to occur to keep the beaches at optimum levels.
As a result of a inadequate sand pumping the lifeguard tower and other buildings along the beach promenade were left in a precarious position, with lengthy drops onto the beach and the city’s prime tourism destination in a complete mess.
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“Emergency sand pumping commenced in April, costing the city R18 million as Subtech pumped sand directly from an offshore dredger onto the beaches. The situation has drastically improved since then, with the beaches looking somewhat normal again. The meeting’s focus was on how this kind of situation can be avoided going forward, how our key environmental assets can be safeguarded, and how the beachfront can be effectively managed,” said Graham.
She said input from Coastal Engineering’s Godfrey Vella revealed that the municipality plans to resume the previous sand pumping operation shortly, where sand is pumped from the Transnet Hopper Station along the beaches to four supplementary stations. “This system hasn’t worked in seven years, but will start coming back online soon once Transet’s station is functional again. The individual stations will then be monitored and repaired where necessary,” she said.
“There was discussion around the environmental implications of heavy loads of sand currently sitting in and around Vetch’s Pier, and a request for the city to be more careful of the reef at the pier. The inlet pipes that draw in water for uShaka Marine World’s aquarium under the Moyo Pier have also been affected by the heavy sand build up on the southern beaches and the city is considering lengthening that pier to mitigate this. The City Manager acknowledged the need to remedy this situation, as well as to improve communication with Durban residents and ratepayers,” said Graham.
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