Durban beaches closed following damage to shark nets

The eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality has closed all Durban beaches until further notice after the recent heavy rains in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

The municipality said the decision to close the beaches follows advice from the Natal Sharks Board.

Murky water which is full of logs and other unsafe objects, as a result of the heavy rains, has resulted in the shark nets at most beaches breaking – making beaches unsafe for the public to use.

“All water activities are prohibited. However, residents can still enjoy other activities along the beach that do not require them to come into contact with sea water,” the municipality said in a statement.

The municipality said teams are hard at work fixing the nets and infrastructure that was damaged by the heavy rains and urged the beachgoers to heed the warning.

All city’s beaches are therefore closed until further notice.

Camps Bay tidal pool

Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town has announced that the city’s Coastal Management branch will commence with work at the Camps Bay tidal pool on Monday, 23 October 2023.

The city will be levelling the beach that was badly washed out due to the recent storms.

The City’s Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews said during the recent storms the adjacent river flooded and washed away a significant portion of the northern section of the Camps Bay tidal pool beach, depositing a significant amount of sand in the near shore.

“This has resulted in a large sand bank that is impacting the functional space of the pool. On Monday the city will commence mechanical activities to remove as much of the sand bank as practically possible and to reinstate the beach.

“These works will require lowering the water level in the pool. As such, the pool will experience lower water levels during the execution of the works and will take a day or two to fill up to capacity depending on the tides and swell size post the work,” Andrews said.

The Deputy Mayor urged all visitors and regular users of the tidal pool to visit another facility, while the work is underway.

“While the pool will not be closed in its entirety, it is recommended that the public consider visiting one of the city’s other facilities during this period, such as Maidens Cove, Saunders Rocks or Milton Pool. We thank the public for their patience while we do our best to restore this facility as efficiently as possible,” Andrews said.