Repairs to ripped-up beaches

Most Durban beaches reopened to bathers yesterday, but the effects of last week's rough seas, fierce wind and heavy rain remained.

A few surfers took advantage of the warm weather at North Beach and eThekwini Municipality cleaning staff removed sand that had been deposited on the promenade.

On Tuesday, deputy community and emergency services city manager Musa Gumede presented a report to the executive council about last week's bad weather.

He said the effects of the high seas, wind speed and heavy rain were still evident on certain parts of the city's beaches and on the promenade from Wedge Beach to North Beach.

He said large quantities of sand were deposited on the promenade, umbrellas were dislodged, sand had washed away, exposing stones and rocks, and litter bins had been washed away and smashed.

He said covers of the sea wall were also dislodged and electrical cables exposed. The North Beach municipal office and police station were flooded.

"As a result of the strong tides we were advised by the Sharks Board that shark nets will be lifted in some parts [of the sea] and it would therefore be unsafe for bathers to use the beach," Gumede said.

"Through our communication channels we have advised the public not to use our beaches until we announce it is safe."

Municipal spokesman Thabo Mofokeng yesterday said some Durban beaches were open to bathers while clean-up operations continued.

Sharks Board operations manager Mike Anderson-Reade said 99.9% of the shark nets were back in the water at most of the popular beaches along the KwaZulu-Natal coast. He said nets would be back in at Zinkwazi, Glenmore, Thompson's Bay and Strand beaches by tomorrow.

"The damage to the nets was minimal because we removed 50% of the gear before the bad weather as a precautionary measure. It could have been worse," he said.

He said nets would "obviously be in the water" during the holiday season. "The longest we've not had gear has been three days. Holidaymakers must be informed that shark nets will be in for the festive season."