The life guard tower and ablution facilities at Ballito’s Willard Beach are a disgrace.
The paint has been scraped off the walls but up to now never re-painted, only one toilet in the ladies room is in operation and there is no water in the wash basins.
Visitors to the beach have been urinating on the walls along the passage leading down to the beach and some say they’d rather use the sea than stand in a queue.
“The bathrooms are gross and if it does not get better we would rather use the sea,” said Kaylee Brits and Monique Rautenbach on holiday from the Free State.
Sarie Busek from Roodepoort, Gauteng was disappointed in the beach facilities.
“We brought our young kids here and these will be their first memories of a beach holiday,” said Busek. She said people spend a lot of money to come to Ballito and then they cannot even wash their hands after using the toilet.
The Botha family on their annual vacation from Vrede in the Free State said they have been coming to Ballito every summer for about 13 years and said it seems maintenance to the building has been neglected and it looks ugly.
The frustrated family said they do not mind the traffic because upgrading Ballito Drive is an improvement to the town, but at the same time Ballito’s main beach is deteriorating.
They highlighted the problem that mothers with babies have when they have to change nappies and how clogged the beach’s only female toilet will get as more tourists flock to the beach.
Cllr Malcolm Hubner said locking the toilet doors was a joint effort between KwaDukuza district municipality (KDM) and Sembcorp Siza Water to save water.
Sembcorp Siza Water spokesperson Khosi Mthenjwa said they only requested KDM to shut down the showers to save water and not the toilets.
As far as Sembcorp is concerned, all the toilets should be in operation. “We have one meter connection for all the toilets and hence if one of them has water to flush all should have water,” said Mthenjwa.
Hubner said on Tuesday afternoon: “KDM executive services director Cecil Viramuthu was making phone calls today and rethinking their water saving strategy when he I left municipal offices.”
He said the reason why the building was scraped down and not yet repainted is local politics.
“When two municipal forces butt heads, the community suffers,” he said
He said Dolphin Coast Conservancy chair Di Jones and Ballito businesswoman Barbara Shingler recruited someone to donate paint and do the painting free of charge outside of municipal approval which lead to KDM beach management turning down the job.
KDM municipal services deputy director Njabulo Nguwane has to send out a new tender and find someone else to do the job.
