Blow for eThekwini tourism as Umhlanga beaches close ahead of school holidays

23 June 2022          

ActionSA is concerned that the recent closure of all the beaches in Umhlanga ahead of the school holidays will further impact tourism, not only in Umhlanga but in all of eThekwini.

The beaches in Umhlanga have been rightly closed due to the poor quality and contamination emanating from the raw sewage crisis engulfing the City.

Tourism in the City of eThekwini is on the backfoot, and beach closures ahead of school holidays is extremely worrying, especially for those who depend on an influx of tourists during these times to make a living.

Last December festive period tourism was down 22% and there is little doubt that tourism in this June/July school holidays will be similarly or further down. Besides the sewage causing the beach closure, the smell of sewage on several parts of the Umhlanga Promenade is unbearable.

Umhlanga is meant to be a prime tourist destination not only for eThekwini but for the entire Province. Sadly, the experience of those tourist who visit Umhlanga are far from encouraging.

What is becoming patently clear is that the ANC, EFF and NFP-led eThekwini Municipality has no political will nor fresh ideas as to how to fix the sewage crisis.

The eThekwini Water and Sanitation Action Plan which the municipality prepared following ActionSA’s court action is not credible and will not solve the crisis. The plan has tried to impress the court and others with quantity as opposed to quality and is clearly a copy and paste with some documents going back to 2013.

One of the claims made in the action plan is that 98% of pump stations and 100% of wastewater treatment plants are operational. This is certainly not the case as evident by the high E. coli levels in the city’s rivers and the recent beach closures in Umhlanga and other beaches.

ActionSA’s court case against the Municipality will continue and we all it takes to protect the tourism industry thrives once again in our Province.

Issued by Alan Beesley, ActionSA eThekwini Councillor, 23 June 2023