Africa-Press – South-Africa. At least seven Durban beaches, including the Umhlanga Main and Bronze Beach, remain closed due to high E. coli levels.
Last week, the City promised to have one of its pump stations that broke down, leading to contamination in Umhlanga, fixed by Sunday.
By Monday, however, News24 confirmed that at least seven beaches were closed due to the high E. coli levels.
The affected beaches are: Umhlanga Main, Westbrook, Bronze, Umdloti Main, Reunion, Warner, Winklespruit.
All these beaches are popular with local and foreign tourists, but at the beginning of the school holidays, they remain closed.
When asked when they would open again, the City could not commit to a definite date.
“These beaches will open once the water quality improves. Testing is ongoing,” said spokesperson Lindiwe Khuzwayo.
She said teams from the municipality had taken water samples over the weekend “and today”.
“We expect to have new results to compare by tomorrow afternoon,” she added.
Khuzwayo emphasised that there were still 15 open beaches which were safe for the public to use.
Beaches that remain open are: Point, UShaka, Addington, South Beach, Wedge Beach, North Beach, Bay of Plenty, Battery, Thekwini, Country Club, Laguna, Brighton Beach, Toti Main, Pipeline, and UMgababa.
Since the April 2022 floods, already aged infrastructure in Durban has collapsed, leaving raw sewage flowing into rivers and the ocean for months on end.
The Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs opened a criminal case against top officials in the eThekwini Metro for failing to adequately address the ongoing water and sewage crisis in the city.
This was revealed in a responding affidavit submitted by top department official in KwaZulu-Natal, Bonginkosi Dlamini, the acting chief director and director of compliance, monitoring and enforcement.
ActionSA has also approached the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban in the hopes of compelling the eThekwini Metro and other government departments to solve the ongoing sewage crisis.
The department also outlined in court documents that the issue of infrastructure had been of concern long before the floods last year.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
