Desire Stalmann of Port Edward recently found herself in a spot of bother with the Department of Environmental Affairs.
She built staircases at Spiro’s Rock Beach without consulting with the relevant department and Ray Nkonyeni Municipality (RNM).
The staircases now have to be demolished as no proper plans were submitted to the municipality.
Unless RNM says otherwise.
Stalmann says she was just trying to help people to be able to walk down to the beach in a proper and safe way.
“The path was not easy to walk on, and people were getting injured,” she said.
She said she has been in the area for 11 years and has used the beach often.
“I could see on some community groups that people were fixing things in their areas, including access to beaches, so I thought, why not fix ours as well and build proper stairways.”
She said she didn’t realise she needed to get permission from the municipality before doing so. “I was merely thinking about the safety of people walking down to the beach.”
She met with various members of the community and department officials at the spot last week Tuesday.
The instruction was that the staircases would have to be demolished unless RNM says otherwise.
Stalmann was given two weeks to approach RNM to get a response within that two weeks, failing which the staircases would need to be demolished.
Simon April, spokesperson for RNM, said he would respond to the Herald as soon as he had all the details.
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