A SMALL group of Durban surfers were let off by police with a warning after they went surfing on Wednesday morning as a form of protest against the closure of beaches.
Ray de Vries, whose son is a professional surfer and was part of the water protest, said they wanted the beaches to open for recreational and professional surfing.
“It was to bring attention to how stupid the beach ban is. My son is a professional surfer, he has a licence to train but is not allowed to because of the ban,” he said.
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De Vries explained how the surfers skirted around the regulation laws by travelling by boat (which is still allowed) to go to the beach.
“At about 6.30 am, they took a boat from the Harbour to get to the new pier on Surf City’s Golden Mile and started surfing,” said De Vries.
“The cops came at around 8.30am and asked them to get out of the beach but they said they couldn’t because no one is allowed to be on the beach. The cops called the Water Wing who escorted them back to the harbour and to the Point Police station where they were given a final warning and told never to do it again.”
De Vries said the group was travelling with a lawyer who explained to the police that they were not doing anything wrong.
Beaches have remained closed throughout the country since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last year that the country will be reverting to Adjusted Level 3 of the lockdown to mitigate the high number of Covid-19 cases.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
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