Shark net fees five months in arrears

THE Hibiscus Coast Municipality is five months in arrears with the monthly shark net meshing fees it pays KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board.

This has resulted in the upliftment of all shark safety gear and a blanket swimming ban at all Hibiscus Coast beaches, according to the board’s head of operations, Mike Anderson- Reade. He said the shark board’s services had been withdrawn until the matter could be resolved.

“The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board is a Schedule 3(C) of the Public Finance Management Act No 1 of 1999 (PFMA) entity of the KwaZulu-Natal Province. In terms of Section 38 (1) (C) (i) of the PFMA, read with regulation number 11.2.1 of the Treasury Regulations, the accounting officer of an institution is required to take effective and appropriate steps to collect timeously all money due to the institution,” he said.

Hibiscus Coast executive committee Democratic Alliance Councillor, Dave Watson said the matter would be submitted as an urgent item at today’s executive committee meeting. He has slammed KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board for the unilateral removal of the shark nets.

Hibiscus Coast Municipality has yet to respond to the South Coast Herald’s request for information regarding the situation.

For a full report on the swimming ban, see the South Coat Herald on Thursday.