eThekwini Municipality opens 13 beaches, others remain closed

With just a few months left before the December holiday period, the eThekwini Municipality has opened some beaches to the public.

This bodes well for holidaymakers as they start making plans for the festive period.

Opened Beaches

The reopened beaches include Bay Beach, North Beach, Wedge Beach, South Beach, Addington Beach, uShaka Beach, Amanzimtoti Main Beach, Pipeline Beach, and Umgababa Beach amongst others.

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The eThekwini Municipality said testing confirmed that the water quality at these beaches is at an ‘acceptable’ standard.

Closed Beaches

“Beaches that remain closed include eThekwini Beach, Laguna Seasonal Beach, Ansteys Beach, Reunion Beach, and Baggies Beach. All water activities such as swimming, surfing, fishing, bathing, and canoeing are therefore prohibited at the above-mentioned beaches.” 

The eThekwini Municipality urged beachgoers to avoid water-related activities at beaches that are closed.

“The public will be notified when the closed beaches are reopened and safe for public use.”

The eThekwini Municipality closed some beaches with immediate effect due to high levels of E. coli in the water.

In June, the municipality also closed some beaches.

It said significant damage to the wastewater treatment plants and sanitation infrastructure had resulted in sewerage pollution in many rivers.

KZN Floods

Meanwhile, Stats SA said the floods in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) at the beginning of the year, and load shedding were major contributors to the country’s decline in growth.

South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 0.7% in the second quarter of 2022, according to Stats SA which release the figures last week.

The manufacturing industry was particularly hard hit, largely due to the floods.

“The damage to factories and plants, and disruptions to logistics and supply chains, pulled national manufacturing output down by 5,9%. The biggest drags on growth were petroleum and chemical products, food and beverages, and transport equipment,” Stats SA said.

Manufacturing is the largest industry in KwaZulu-Natal, it added.

Additional reporting by Gareth Cotterell

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