ETHEKWINI Municipality has declared Durban beaches safe for public use after they were contaminated by a massive sewage leak when mechanical rakes at the entrance to the city’s Mahatma Gandhi Pump Station failed and allowed foreign matter to enter the system, in turn causing the mechanical pump failure.
Durban Harbour was also severely affected by the sewage leak and is currently still contaminated.
Municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela, confirmed this week that the beaches were safe for public use but advised people to avoid the water at Durban port as 20 per cent of the port was still contaminated by sewage.
He said a sewage pump would be installed at the harbour this week and would be used to clear the contamination.
Acting Port Manager from Transnet National Ports Authority, Nokuzola Nkowane, said given the potential threat of infection to diving personnel, Transnet had taken the decision to suspend all diving operations within the Port of Durban and to prohibit all angling until further notice.
“Transnet’s environmental department and pollution control teams are working hard to clear the port’s surface, which was already negatively affected by the large volume of plastic waste and vegetation which made its way into the port after the recent heavy rains and flooding in the region. The port is unfortunately on the receiving end of the large volume of litter, effluent and sewage that was discharged via the stormwater reticulation system from a catchment area of over 200 square kilometers in size,” he said, adding that approximately 720 000 litres of raw sewage had flowed into the harbour every hour.
READ RELATED: Durban Harbour sewage leak scuppers surf contest
International surf contest, the ZigZag Durban Surf Pro, which was due to take place from 10 to 12 May at Durban Beachfront, was cancelled due to the sewage leak.
World Surf League (WSL) Africa operations manager, Colin Fitch, said the extent of the contamination posed a serious health risk and threat to the marine life alongside the marina and along the beachfront. He said the WSL, the global sanctioning body for professional surfing, and the organisers of the City Surf Series (CSS), took the decision to cancel the event for the safety of the surfers and event staff.
The Zigzag Durban Surf Pro would have been stop number four of eight on the 2019 WSL Africa Tour and the third CSS event of the year.
The City Surf Series organisers are looking to add another event to the 2019 calendar to ensure that the surfers do not miss out on the opportunity to earn valuable points on the Qualifying Series (QS) rankings for the year.
Durban surfer, Mike Frew, said he and a friend had noticed the leak on 28 April.
“I went sailing with a friend who has a boat at the yacht club. The water in the harbour was a grey color and the surface was covered in raw sewerage and faeces. It was not just a small patch but the whole north east corner of the harbour, a massive area. It was happening about a week before the Travel Indaba but the City kept it very quiet. It was only when the surf contest was cancelled that it make it into mainstream media,” he said.
Frew said it was a huge health and environmental disaster, compounded by the fact that it was allowed to happen for three weeks before the City did anything about it or communicated the seriousness of the situation.
“It’s still exactly the same if you go down there now, it’s radical and has to be one of the most dangerous health risks we’ve almost ever had in Durban. With pending elections and the Tourism Indaba it was kept very hush hush. The chatter at the moment is how exactly they are going to clean this up, how they are going to flush the harbour. It’s not just a case of fixing the pumps, there’s the chance of bacteria still being in the water,” said Frew.
Julia van Zyl from organisation Made For More, said alternative venue arrangements had to be made last week for the ‘Build for Better’ South African Adaptive Surfing Championships which were due to take place at New Pier on 18 May.
However, after the statement by the city that the beaches were safe, van Zyl said the event would be going ahead in Durban.
“We have a valid and verified beach permit to use at New Pier, Durban, as our venue for 18 May. As safety is our main concern, we did some further investigating into the situation and found that samples are being taken at the beaches daily. The latest ecoli results show that is it safe to swim. We will continue to look at the water samples in the lead up to the event to ensure the safety of surfers, volunteers and all community members,” she said.
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