Naked play for beach

03 March 2014 - 02:00 By Nivashni Nair
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A beach. File photo.
A beach. File photo.
Image: Gallo Images/ Thinkstock

A call for a legal nudist beach in South Africa has nothing to do with sex and eroticism.

"It's about socialising in a natural environment with no clothing," said John Skene yesterday.

Skene, a Scotsman who has lived in South Africa since the 1980s, is leading a campaign to turn a beach near the Mpenjati Nature Reserve on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast into a legal nudist beach.

"There is no eroticism or sex involved in naturism. It has a bad press because of the swinger clubs popping up," he said.

The Gauteng Naturists Association, which asked Skene to look into the possibility of a legal nudist beach in KwaZulu-Natal, vets applicants through interviews.

Skene said previously single naturists were not admitted to nudist resorts.

"The ratio of men to women there is the same because the majority of people who go to resorts or engage in naturist socialising are couples," he says.

Skene believes that there are thousands of naturists in South Africa, but the majority practise nudity behind closed doors.

"The number of people who socialise at nudist resorts is growing, but it's small compared to the actual number of naturists in the country," he said.

Many of his friends go on international trips just for the nudist-friendly attractions.

"There are a number of people who I associate with who go to Cap d'Agde in France just to enjoy being free. It's a village for naturists and one can live there for two weeks without putting clothing on. You can go shopping, drive around and also go to the beach without any clothing on," Skene explained.

He said many tourists who stay at his guesthouse in Marina Beach want to go to a nudist beach.

"We direct them to a certain beach in KwaZulu-Natal, but they are not legally allowed to be there.

"There is a need for a legal nudist beach. We could promote South Africa as a naturism-friendly destination," he said.

Although there are no legal nudist beaches, authorities often turn a blind eye to nude visitors to Cape Town's Sandy Bay and Durban's Umhlanga Lagoon beaches.

Skene and about 25 other interested naturists plan to form the KwaZulu-Natal Naturists Association, which will be affiliated to the Gauteng and Western Cape naturist associations, before delivering a formal proposal about a nude beach to the Hibiscus Coast Municipality.

Hibiscus Coast Municipal spokesman Simon Soboyisa said the current bylaws did not permit nudist beaches in the area.

"Should the municipality desire to change this position, a formal council resolution would be required in order to amend the bylaws and after public consultation has been exhausted," he said.

Last week mayor Cynthia Mqwebu said the association was welcome to approach the municipality with its proposal.

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