Durban sewage: Lack of Blue Flags a red flag for tourism sector

None of Durban’s beaches qualified to fly the Blue Flag for 2022/23, a concern that could cost the tourism sector dearly ahead of the festive season.

The lack of Blue Flag status is owed to beaches in Durban not maintaining the required water quality standards.

This while E.coli levels reach a record high.

Blue Flag status

The Blue Flag status by the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) recognises beaches, marinas and tourism boats for maintaining high standards of freshwater.

However, it’s all red flags for E.coli infested beaches of the eThekwini municipality, after failing to meet the 33 different required criteria to fly the flag that attracts more tourists, especially in the coming festive season.

The Blue Flag programme, run by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), focuses on four main categories, including water quality, environmental management, environmental education and safety.

Fifty-one beaches, four marinas and two tourism boats in South Africa made the cut for the Blue Flag status.

Durban beaches pulled out

eThekwini municipality backed out from submitting an application to the organisation this year – mainly because water quality tests declared the beaches to be in poor standards.

ALSO READ: More Durban beaches closed after poor water quality results found

A majority of beaches were closed in August due to high levels of E-coli, but some have since been opened.

The bacteria contaminated beaches are largely a result of the April floods that damaged water and sewerage systems, leading to sewage spilling into rivers and beaches.

Speaking to The Citizen, WESSA’s national coastal coordinator, Tevya Lotriet said the City informed them that their main focus this year was to fix the dilapidated and ageing infrastructure.

“Based on the sample results WESSA received from the independent lab responsible for Durban Blue Flag water samples, and if Durban did apply this year, the 2021 Durban beaches which had Blue Flag status would not meet the water quality criteria to be awarded Blue Flag status,” said Lotriet.

The lab results showed high levels of E.coli and faecal streptococcus readings potentially linked to old sewerage infrastructure, heavy rainfall and floods, and other pollution. 

eThekwini municipality 

The City’s spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, however voiced his discontent with the beaches not being awarded a Blue Flag status. He said levels of E.coli have dropped substantially and the infrastructure is being fixed.

READ MORE: Continued closure of Umhlanga’s beaches is having an adverse effect on the economy

“It’s every City’s dream to retain the Blue Flag status, but the challenges we experienced at the beginning of the year resulted in our sanitation infrastructure being destroyed. 

“This led to sewage ending up on our beaches, but we are currently fixing that and we are working towards ensuring that in future we regain our Blue Flag status for most of our beaches,” Mayisela said.

Tourism sector affected

Environmental advisor and water expert, Anthony Turton, said the prolonged flow of sewage among the beaches is a huge reputational risk for Durban’s tourism.

“As soon as the flow of raw sewage has stopped, it will take a few weeks for nature to clean up the mess. If the flow of sewage isn’t stopped, then the tourism industry will simply collapse,” warned Turton.

Businessman and chairperson of Umhlanga Tourism, Duncan Heafield estimates that the accommodation and hospitality industry loses about R25 million a day from the beach closures.

Heafield told the Northglen News of fears that the upcoming festive season may be catastrophic for Umhlanga.

“Beaches are a major tourist attraction in Umhlanga, especially over the festive season. At the moment, in what we consider the off-season, Umhlanga is losing potentially R10m a day, and over the festive period, we anticipate that figure to be as much as R25m per day. 

“From what I’ve seen as a restaurant owner myself, people are going to Cape Town or they’ll look to the central region to enjoy clean beaches. We have been in consultation with the City, and they have given us a timeline as to when the infrastructure will be repaired, so while I’m hopeful, I’m not optimistic considering the scale of repairs needed,” he said.

Mayisela said independent sectors are satisfied with the improved water quality on the beaches. He also stated that all beaches will be open by 1 December.

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