WATCH: Durban beaches remain closed

The sea came crashing over the promenade at Durban’s North Beach yesterday. Bathing was banned. Picture: Rescue Care

The sea came crashing over the promenade at Durban’s North Beach yesterday. Bathing was banned. Picture: Rescue Care

Published Mar 14, 2017

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Durban – Durban’s beaches will remain closed until further notice to protect bathers and surfers following Sunday’s high tides and big waves.

Acting MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Bongi Sithole-Moloi said the province would work with the eThekwini municipality to fix the damage.

“Cogta and eThekwini are jointly assessing and monitoring the situation. The disaster units are on board making every effort to ensure no one is injured. If people are told to move away, they should heed that call, which is intended to protect them,” said Sithole-Moloi.

City officials expressed their displeasure at members of the public who had been warned to keep their distance from the waves, but had ignored this to take pictures.

“Cogta wants to indicate that this was not a tsunami, but a high tidal wave. People should calm down knowing that we are monitoring the situation. All beaches have been closed to protect the people of KwaZulu-Natal and the province’s visitors,” she said.

Community Services Committee Chairwoman Zama Sokhabase said they had been informed by the Sharks Board that the nets were not in good condition.

“We then urged lifeguards to take people off the beach,” said Sokhabase.

“This morning we started getting everything back to normal. We have closed the beaches until further notice. This is to ensure all damage is repaired. Contractors are on site to put the beach in order,” she said.

Contractors were busy on Monday clearing away the sand washed on to the promenade and parking area.

eThekwini Parks, Leisure and Culture head Thembinkosi Ngcobo said they were monitoring the waves.

He said that should they become concerned about safety on the promenade, the city would not hesitate to temporarily evacuate it.

Ngcobo said the mop-up operations could take up to three days if they received all the equipment required. Repairing the infrastructural damage might take up to two weeks.

Ngcobo said bathers should heed warnings when issued.

“Yesterday (Sunday) people were warned but they still wanted to take pictures.

“We do not think that they are aware of the dangers of rough seas.

“They think they are only going to encounter water, but there was debris and concrete slabs,” said Ngcobo.

Weather forecaster Thandiwe Gumede said Sunday’s waves were the combination of tropical low Enawo and a spring tide.

“We expect the waves to subside because the tropical low has now moved further east,” said Gumede.

The Mercury

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