Durban - Instead of complaining, a Durban resident took money out of his pocket to clean up a dirty beach after New Year celebrations last Sunday.
In a week that saw South Africans take to social media after Penny Sparrow of Scottburgh labelled black people monkeys who litter and cause discomfort to others at beaches, Sean Madden took a different approach, spending to help overwhelmed municipal workers clean up the beach.
It was a typically hot Durban day when Madden went to Addington Beach at around 10am. He did not expect to find such a mess – the aftermath of a weekend of partying.
Instead of whining, he decided to do something about the litter. He got together a group of six guys who agreed to be paid to help him clean up the beachfront stretch of about 300m.
Christine Stananought, a tourist from Britain who had visited Durban more or less every five years since 1991, said she was surprised to see the amount of rubbish at Addington Beach on the day.
She commended Madden for having taken action instead of just complaining.
“I went to Point Road and asked a group of guys who were standing there if they would like to come and work for two hours. I said I would give them each R50. Six of them came back with me to help,” said Madden.
He said the mess at the beach was not good for the city’s image – litter at other times was not as bad as during the holiday season.
“There were all kinds of beverage containers, fireworks and polystyrene on the beachfront. It was ridiculous. We can accept a little litter in the off-season, but it needs to be perfect at holiday time.
“It needs to be clean for tourists so they want to come back in future. Unfortunately that day it didn’t give a good impression,” Madden said.
Madden said he realised a few municipal workers faced a mammoth task a stretch down from uShaka and had to make their way up, passing the Marine Surf Lifesaving Club, which was in a bad condition.
They admitted feeling overwhelmed by the amount of litter on the beach when he spoke them, which is when he offered to help.
“I told them it was going to take a lot of time to clean up only a part of the beach, while they had a long stretch to cover. I offered to help with my team of six guys.
“I then told them to come back later to pick up about 40 bags that we filled. We formed a line and cleaned up a stretch of about 300 metres of the beachfront, including the sand dunes,” said Madden.
One of the men, Innocent Ndlovu, said he was happy to help when approached by Madden.
“I was happy to help because I am surviving on piece jobs at the moment and this guy came and offered us R50 each. I also made myself available because I was doing nothing,” he said.
Madden has appealed to beachgoers to use refuse bins because extra bins have been provided to prevent the kind of littering that he witnessed a week ago.
Sunday Tribune
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