Durban beaches are some of the best places to visit this time of the year but recent developments have made swimming in the warm waters of this majestic coastal region of South Africa a health scare.
Here is a list of Durban beaches to avoid this festive season
The eThekwini Municipality has received backlash over contrasting reports on the safety of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) metro’s beaches.
In January 2022, fishing, surfing and swimming were prohibited at several Durban beaches after “Umngeni river discharged a very abnormal murky water to the [ocean].”
The E.coli scare forced the municipality to close off North Beach, Bay of Plenty, South Beach, Suncoast Beach, Country Club and Umgeni Beach to the public. However, the beaches were soon reopened after subsequent tests conducted on the water cleared E.coli contamination and “any pollution that may pose threat to life.”
Fast-forward to December 2022 and the municipality is still the subject of furore. This time around, though, Durban mayor Mxolisi Kaunda courted backlash for taking a dip at North Beach only days after a prominent water treatment and testing company flagged the popular swimming spot for possible sewage contamination.
Talbot released the results of several tests conducted on Durban beaches, where North Beach was listed as one of many swimming areas with poor water quality.
In a Facebook post that’s since gone viral, Talbot flagged the following beaches as unsafe for swimming after tests showed critical E.coli contamination levels exceeding 500cfu/100ml.
- Point Beach
- North Beach
- Country Club
- Battery Beach
- Umhlanga Main
- Bronze Beach
While the Talbot test results have resulted in furore on social media, eThekwini municipality insists it’s making headway in repairing “sewer pipelines and trunk mains in Umhlanga, where teams are working round the clock to clear overflowing manholes.”
“The city is also aware of overflows in some areas resulting from damaged trunk mains whose repairs are not yet complete — and in this regard, the city continues to frequently monitor beach water quality to ensure that we make an informed decision for public safety. For the rest of the beaches that are still contaminated, the city is working as fast as it can to finalise repairs,” the municipality noted in a statement.