Durban’s beachfront toilets are in excellent condition and ready for the school holiday rush, a Daily News survey has found. Reporters Kamcilla Pillay and Mphathi Nxumalo walked the 8km promenade testing toilets, taps and showers. They found that virtually all the facilities tested were well maintained, hygienic and functional
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Women’s Facilities
Facilities at Dairy Beach and the Bay of Plenty were closed for renovations.
Many had a full-time attendant who cleaned throughout the day.
Of the 60 municipal-run toilets in the female restrooms from Blue Lagoon to uShaka Beach, 12 did not flush.
There were 46 taps in these restrooms but only one did not work.
However, the overwhelming majority of toilets did not have toilet paper and none had hand dryers or ones that worked.
Only a handful of the soap dispensers were stocked with soap.
Addington Beach came out tops with its attendant dispensing toilet paper at the door.
The facility was clean and smelt fresh. The floors were dry and looked to be recently mopped.
Its soap dispensers were also full.
The toilets at Laguna and Blue Lagoon beaches were also clean and neat.
At Laguna, four of the six toilets had toilet paper.
Blue Lagoon had a single toilet paper dispenser at the door, secured with a lock.
Of Snake Park beach’s 11 toilets only six flushed.
The other toilets were cordoned off with red and white emergency tape.
North Beach, while four of five of its toilets worked, was untidy.
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Men’s Facilities
The men’s toilets at Blue Lagoon were in a reasonable state. The downside was that none of the five showers had shower heads.
The worst men’s facilities were at South Beach and North Beach where standards of cleanliness were not on a par with other facilities.
This, however, could be attributed to the high number of people using the toilets.
The majority of the urinals worked and most taps had running water.
The lack of condom dispensers was concerning – there were none in any of the facilities.
The lack of hand dryers was also another aspect that was disappointing. In some toilets they were either rusted or not functioning.
The showers worked but Laguna Beach did not have shower heads.
eThekwini Beach had eight toilets all working. Battery Beach had four toilets, all functional. Snake Park Beach was closed for renovations. North Beach’s toilets were functional. Wedge Beach had three out of four functioning. Although the hygiene was not that great, the four toilets at South Beach were working properly. In all the toilets that were inspected, all the basins were in good condition.
The presence of cleaning staff was a positive. The inspection concluded with a look at Addington Beach; these were by far the best toilets with five working toilet stalls that were fully functional and two showers that worked. The toilet had one big basin and six working taps were clean. It also had running showers.
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Beach showers
The showers on the promenade, indoors and outdoors, were inspected and while most worked, some of the taps were missing.
Wedge Beach was the only one where all three outdoor showers were broken. Only one small tap, to rinse feet, worked.
Overall the municipality can be proud. However with the school holidays having officially started and people from around the country coming to Durban, maintaining these facilities – in the face of this increased foot traffic – will be the challenge.