Amanzimtoti’s Blue Flag hopes flushed
As beaches on the Upper South Coast continue to be contaminated by sewage, all hopes of being awarded Blue Flag status is lost.
THE Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (Wessa) recently names the beaches that have attained Blue Flag status, none of which are on the Upper South Coast.
Also read: Blue Flag beaches and shark nets don’t go together
The last time Amanzimtoti Main Beach had Blue Flag status was in the 2020/2021 season, while Umgababa Beach was a Blue Flag Pilot Beach. The April 2022 floods caused sewage to spill into the ocean and no beach between Dakota Beach and Umgababa ever earned that status again.
Beaches that have achieved the international Blue Flag certification have adhered to the Foundation for Environmental Education’s strict environmental management standards. These include water quality, safety, and public environmental education.
Sapphire Coast Tourism’s Romy Wenzel said it would not be easy to achieve Blue Flag status with the ongoing sewage problem as water quality was the most important factor.
“Sadly, most beaches on the south cost are affected by sewage pollution and most council buildings are in dire need of renovation with no proper budgets being available,” said Romy.
eThekwini Municipality’s communications manager, Mduduzi Ncalane, admitted that the loss of the Blue Flag status of Amanzimtoti Main and Umgababa beaches was primarily due to challenges with water quality and destroyed sewerage infrastructure due to floods.
“To address these issues, the Municipality has initiated a rehabilitation programme for the infrastructure, which is progressing well and is expected to be completed sometime next year. Once the rehabilitation is complete, a new application will be considered,” said Ncalane.
Currently, 21 out of 23 bathing eThekwini beaches are open, while Anstey’s and Reunion beaches are closed due to high E.coli levels.
Do you have more information pertaining to this story? Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.
