Durban Beaches Left Almost Empty Following e.coli Scandal, Leaving Mzansi Concerned for Economy

• Some Durban beaches that are usually packed during the festive season were surprisingly quiet, leaving many concerned
• The eThekwini Municipality claimed that beaches in the city are safe despite social media posts related to e.coli-related infections
• Many citizens expressed concern for the country’s tourism industry and were saddened by the lack of visitors and beachgoers

DURBAN - Usually packed Durban beaches were rather quiet during the festive season, leaving some citizens concerned about the local economy.

The eThekwini Municipality reopened uMhlanga main and Bronze beaches on Christmas Day, following the closure due to above-normal e.coli levels. Water quality testing conducted by the municipality showed that beaches were safe for swimming.

The city urged citizens to beware of fake news that is being spread on social media that is allegedly misleading the public about people hospitalised with e.coli-related infections. In a post shared on Facebook, the municipality claimed the voice notes were an attempt to scare the public.

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“They are nothing but attempts to dissuade fun-loving South Africans from enjoying themselves at eThekwini beaches,” claimed the municipality.

Meanwhile, lifeguards at major beaches in the city told TimesLIVE that there were fewer people spotted. They suspect people may have been wary about the e.coli claims.

The city claimed that experts are monitoring water quality at beaches to ensure the safety of beachgoers. The municipality reminded the public that spreading fake news is a criminal offence.

Citizens react to the lack of beachgoers:

@SohailBayat commented:

“This is a huge wake-up to the municipality (I hope). Once the infrastructure collapses, the city is finished. Durban was one of the few debt-free cities in the world up to around the year 2000. Amazing how low we've sunk.”

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@Vangile70344820 posted:

“I recently relocated to DBN and my apartment is across the beachfront. We were given permits to access our area and warned of how packed it will get. Xmas was empty, maybe NYD will be packed. Feel sorry for all companies that were looking to make a profit.”

@sheldonreddy91 added:

“Drove around Point Waterfront to Wilson's Wharf today and I was shocked at the state of things. Durban is hanging on by a thread in respect to tourism - not nearly as many tourists as usual and very little places to go which aren't a mess.”

ActionSA wants all Durban beaches to be closed after municipality failed to prevent triple drowning

Briefly News reported that ActionSA in KwaZulu-Natal has called for all the beaches in Durban to be closed after three people drowned at Durban's North Beach on Saturday, 17 December.

The minority opposition party's provincial chairperson Zwakele Mncwango blamed the eThekwini municipality for failing to prevent the incident from happening again by putting measures in place.

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Mncwango claimed that a leaked report revealed that the municipality irregularly appointed Lifesaving South Africa to train lifeguards.

Source: Briefly News