Durban’s hospitality industry is hoping for a Christmas miracle — that the city’s beaches will be free of E. coli in time for the December holidays.
The on-off beach closures are having a knock-on effect on the tourism industry as a whole, says Federated Hospitality Association SA (Fedhasa) East Coast chair Brett Tungay.
“The sewerage crisis is a huge concern to the tourism industry, especially for beachfront accommodation and restaurants, and activity service providers. We are seeing a direct correlation between occupancy and business when the beaches are closed. Business and people are phoning and checking if the beaches are opened. If beaches are closed they are staying away.”
He said there was an expectation from key stakeholders for the municipality and provincial government to act immediately. “At this stage we can only just hope for some kind of miracle in December, but it’s not looking positive.”
Business is equally concerned about the festive season tourism. The national Minara Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Solly Suleman said the local economy is in a fragile state as it battles to recover from Covid-19, the July 2021 riots, the April floods and the Transnet strike.
“The local economy cannot take another blow from a decline in tourism. Every effort must be made to clean up the sewage, not only at our tourism beaches but in communities, at hospitals and in our rivers. It will become a health hazard if this is not done as a matter of urgency. It requires more than just fixing leaks. It requires an overhaul of the entire infrastructure,” said Suleman.
The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, deeply concerned about the deterioration of infrastructure in the city, has committed to working with the eThekwini municipality so that investors and tourists are not scared away.
“Through the efforts led by the chamber the private sector has already contributed about R22m for security, and for infrastructure. The contribution is expected to run to billions of rand, as the investment financial model to confirm the exact amount is still to be finalised,” said CEO Palesa Phili.
The July 2021 unrest set the Durban economy back by more than R70bn and resulted in nearly 200 deaths. The April 2022 floods dealt another devastating blow to the damaged provincial economy of a further R16bn with 459 lives lost.
Concern
Opposition parties including the DA and ActionSA have expressed concern about the beach closures due to poor water quality and sewage spills that have reached crisis levels.
Independent researchers confirm that beaches and major rivers leading to the Indian Ocean tested positive for high levels of E. coli, the bacteria found in sewers. Apart from sewage at beaches, communities also report it flowing into rivers in Westville, Phoenix, Umhlanga and Pinetown west of Durban.
Video footage shows dead fish floating at Isipingo (south of Durban) and Blue Lagoon beaches. Sewage is seen flowing in the Umgeni River and the Blackburn pump station near Umhlanga.
Award-winning environmentalist and Groundwork director Bobby Peek says the city’s problems are inextricably linked to how it is run. “We need a people-inclusive approach so that problems are witnessed, and acted on sooner, rather than towards the end when the crisis hits. Governments cannot govern alone, be it in a city that is crumbling or a state that is crumbling.”
The eThekwini municipality’s executive committee has since allocated R93m to address the municipality’s sewerage crisis. Metro mayor Mxolisi Kaunda apologised at a joint briefing with the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the beach closures. He said the recent National Treasury grant for disaster funding did not go far in addressing damage after recent flooding.
“While most welcome, this funding of R184m is inadequate, so we have reprioritised our budget to fast-track these much-needed repairs. The estimated cost of the repairs is R160m for pump stations and over R300m for water treatment works,” he said.
“It is our fervent hope that these all-important repairs will ensure that our beaches are not contaminated so that they can remain open throughout the festive season.”
The cleanup and repair deadline is the end of November.
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