Health warning: These beaches are closed for December
Update: The City of eThekwini is constantly updating its assessments of beaches and levels of E.Coli. The data reflected below is the status of 6 – 8 December. For the latest updates, see the city’s website.
As of 12 December, the following beaches remain closed:
- Ansteys (South beach)
- Winklespruit (South beach)
- Pipeline (South beach)
As the Durban beaches flood with people over the festive holidays, concerns grow for the health and safety of swimmers as pollution plague the city’s rivers and seas.
Untreated human sewage, amounting to millions of litres, has been flowing into the rivers and seas of Durban. This has led to fluctuating levels of E. coli bacteria in the water and caused the poisoning of aquatic life.
The eThekwini Municipality and non-profit organisation Adopt-A-River recently conducted beach water quality tests to ascertain the areas in which E.Coli (a bacteria that can spread through contaminated water) levels are dangerously high.
The municipality declared that of Durban’s 23 beaches available for the public, 11 tested dangerously high for E.Coli. As a result, these beaches have been closed, barring anyone from swimming in its waters.
Whilst the municipality claims that many beaches have been declared safe, Adopt-a-River stresses that this should be taken with a pinch of salt.
“While we acknowledge the positive strides in managing the sewage plants and inflow of E.coli, we would like to emphasise that we cannot make a blanket statement asserting the safety of beaches for swimming purposes.” they said in a media statement.
“It is essential to consider various factors, rainfall patterns, currents, tides, load shedding schedules and proximity of beaches to river mouth and outfalls. We urge the public to stay informed by asking for current results and being cautious after heavy rainfall,” they added.
The beaches where the water has been defined as “poor” and are closed are:
- Wedge
- South Beach
- Battery Beach
- Country Club Beach
- Thekwini Beach
- Laguna Beach
- Westbrook Beach
- Bronze Beach
- Ansteys Beach
- Winklespruit
- Pipeline
The beaches where the water has been defined (by the municipality) as “acceptable” and remain open:
- Point
- uShaka
- Addington Beach
- North Beach
- Bay of Plenty
- Umdloti Main
- Umhlanga Main
- Toti Main
- Brighton
- Umgababa
- Warner Beach
- Reunion
Results of tests consistently fluctuate based on when and where the test is conducted. Non-profit organisations like Adopt-a-River have urged the public not to follow these green lights blindly, and exercise extreme caution before setting foot near these waters declared “safe” for swimming.
Read: Beach warning for Durban
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