With the category 4 tropical cyclone Batsirai expected to make landfall in southern Mozambique early next week, the KZN Sharks Board began removing all shark safety gear from protected beaches this morning.

This is to prevent unnessary losses and damage to equipment as a result of strong winds and heavy seas.

Bathing will be closed at all recognized KZN bathing beaches as of February 4.

Acting head of operations at the Sharks Board, Greg Thompson, said in association with several weather forecasting services, they are also observing the development of two other severe weather systems likely to affect local weather patterns at more or less the same time as the cyclone.

A very large mass of rainfall stretching from Namibia all the way across the Northern Cape and into the Eastern Cape, is fast approaching the KZN coastline, while a massive cold front developing in the Atlantic Ocean and currently approaching the Western Cape, is also predicted to reach KZN early next week,” Thompson said.

In response, KwaDukuza Municipality (KDM) has decided to close all its beaches with immediate effect until the cyclone has passed and shark safety gear is back in the water.

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