Confirmed! Durban beaches were unsafe for swimmers

10 February 2023

The DA in eThekwini calls on eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda to admit that beaches were never safe for bathing during last year’s festive season.

During a Community Services Committee meeting yesterday, it was revealed that the annual lifeguard endurance event was postponed due to poor water quality caused by high e-coli levels. The race was then rescheduled to take place in January but was again postponed for the same reason.

It is extremely concerning that Mayor Kaunda invited locals and visitors to our beaches despite knowing full well that they were unsafe. Yet he allowed the same lifeguards to swim in contaminated waters, ignoring their safety and demanding that they risk their lives alongside visitors’.

Mayor Kaunda and his ANC have demonstrated numerous times that they are unfit to run this municipality effectively and are an impediment to service delivery.

Now that the PRC has admitted that water quality levels were not acceptable, the information will be handed over to the legal team drafting court papers for further action.
The DA is vindicated in its concern about the municipality’s water testing results not being reliable and potentially being tampered with.

Issued by Gavin Hegter, DA eThekwini Councillor, 10 February 2023