Durban's eThekwini Municipality Mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, has assured visitors and residents that the city's beaches are safe for swimming. He officially reopened the iconic uMhlanga Rocks Whalebone Pier to much fanfare and public applause just in time for the festive season. The results of a joint testing with the Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology (IWWT) at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) revealed an improvement in beach water quality. Of the 23 bathing beaches, 20 are e-coli compliant with acceptable standards for swimming and other water recreational use.
The safety of residents and visitors remains a priority, and with constant testing, the municipality ensures their safety. The city has a team of expert scientists working at the municipal ISO 17025 accredited laboratory. The municipality is transparent with the results, which are shared publicly. If there are poor results, the pollution team immediately traces the source so that remedial work is done to stop the pollution.
The city also conducts re-sampling to ensure the quality of beach water so that an informed decision is made on whether or not to close a particular beach. The city does daily monitoring of all 23 bathing beaches to make an informed decision. For joint sampling, only selected beaches are tested, some of which are non-bathing. Beaches with poor water quality are closed, and the public is informed when the water at beaches has been tested and if they are safe for swimming.
In addition to increased police visibility, the city has beefed up its staff complement and increased police visibility at tourism precincts and along the beachfront.
The beaches that are open include:
- uShaka,
- Addington,
- Point,
- North,
- Bay of Plenty,
- Wedge,
- Battery,
- South,
- Country Club,
- Thekwini,
- Laguna,
- uMhlanga Main,
- uMdloti Main,
- Bronze,
- Westbrook,
- uMgababa,
- Toti Main,
- Reunion,
- Warner,
- Brighton.
The beaches that are closed include:
- Pipeline,
- Winkelespruit,
- Anstey’s.
