Salt Rock beach toilet disgrace

While the warm weather attracted an influx of beachgoers over the weekend, the lack of decent toilet facilities drew numerous complaints from visitors.

Responding to the flood of complaints, the Courier found the restrooms facilities in a shocking state with no visible signs of being maintained.

The biggest problems were that there was no toilet paper and the toilets were in a filthy state.

Inside the woman’s restrooms there was only one toilet in working order, there was no soap, the wash basin tap was dry and there was no hand dryer.

The men’s urinals were blocked and leaking, bins were not provided, both the men’s and women’s restrooms stank and two of the toilets were smeared with faeces.

Beach goers were unimpressed and many said they would rather use the sea than the toilets.

With the influx of visitors also comes the need for beach showers, but almost half of the outside showers were not working as a result of broken taps.

While the beach was mostly tidy, visitors complained about pieces of broken glass in the sand.

Beachgoers told the Courier that Ballito might claim to be a world class destination, but the beach facilities painted an entirely different picture.

With the festive season fast approaching, this is a critical time for the region as tourism remains the town’s primary source of income, and thousands of upcountry visitors are drawn to the Dolphin Coast primarily for its array of golden beaches.

Has Salt Rock beach failed to meet minimum standards as set out by the pilot Blue Flag status?

According to WESSA’s general manager/ sustainable tourism Vincent Shacks, the municipality is responsible for the upgrade to all the beach facilities as set out by the Blue Flag programme.

While provision has been made in the 2018/19 municipal budget for upgrading the Salt Rock Beach facilities, work has yet to begin.

KwaDukuza spokesperson Sipho Mkhize confirmed that the municipality did have plans in place to upgrade the Salt Rock Main beach, as part of the process to meet standards under the Blue Flag pilot programme as well as the Ward 22 integrated development plan.

“Unfortunately the roll-out of the upgrade is in phases.

“We have recently concluded the revamp of the access road – to enable easy access to service vehicles and persons with disabilities – to the main beach as well as upgraded storm water facilities at this beach.

“The next phase which we are hopeful will be executed before the festive season will be the refurbishment of the lifeguard tower and facilities at this particular beach,” said Mkhize.

Ward councillor Privi Makham said she was aware of the problems and was working with the municipality to resolve maintenance issues.

Tiffany’s beach experienced similar problems in the past with their poor ablution facilities, but concerted fundraising efforts by members of the public and local businesses resulted in upgraded facilities.

Westbrook is the only beach on the North Coast to have achieved Blue Flag status while four KwaDukuza municipality beaches are allowed to fly “pilot-status” flags‚ with the long-term goal of achieving full Blue Flag status.

Blythedale, Salt Rock, Willard and Tinley Manor beaches were all awarded pilot status for the 2018/19 season.

Pilot Blue Flag beaches are working towards meeting the minimum requirements for Blue Flag status in safety, amenities, cleanliness and environmental standards.

The Blue Flag programme is managed by the Wildlife and Environment Society (Wessa) and participating coastal municipalities.

According to WESSA, the local authority has a five-year time frame to uplift its pilot status once approved by WESSA to achieve full Blue flag status.

“The Blue Flag National Jury noted with concern, at the 2019 meeting, that a number of beaches have been on the pilot programme for an extended period now.

“Salt Rock beach was one of those sites and the municipality are now under serious pressure to provide details of what improvements they are making and by when an application for Blue Flag status will be made.

“There are many sites around the country that have used their pilot status as a form of recognition for attaining the Blue Flag standard when this is not the case,” Shacks said.

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