South Coasters have come out in opposition to the KZN Naturist Association’s application for a portion of beach between Port Shepstone and Port Edward to be declared nudist-friendly.
The application was handed to the Hibiscus Coast Municipality earlier this year to use a portion of beach known as Mpenjati, north of the lagoon and the Blue Flag Trafalgar Beach, as a nude beach.
After the municipality invited the public to comment, the majority of South Coast residents opposed the idea.
The KZN Naturist Association defended the idea saying a designated naturist beach would attract international tourists.
“I’m sure there would be many men in favour of this, but as a tourist attraction I’m not convinced,” said Sapphire Coast Toti Tourism chairman, Jacques van Schalkwyk, who was adamant Toti would never consider declaring one of Toti’s beaches nudist-friendly.
“We’d get the media exposure (if we did), but I haven’t done enough research on the ‘nude tourist’ to pass comment. There would be more value in us creating a pet-friendly beach instead,” said Jacques.
While there are currently no nude beaches in South Africa, there are a number of sandy coves where naturism is tolerated. This includes Sandy Bay in Cape Town, Umhlanga Lagoon, Secrets Beach, close to Shelley Beach, and Lighthouse Beach, between Port Alfred and East London.
What do you think about nude beaches?
