Broken glass and the stench of urine have returned to Durban’s beachfront after a well-publicised clean-up operation last month.
Ahead of the Amashova cycle race on October 26, city officials instituted sweeping measures to clean-up certain stretches of the Golden Mile favoured by hundreds of revellers.
With drinking in public and boot parties abounding, the beachfront was left in a mess, raising the ire of beachfront businesses and users alike.
The business owners started a social media campaign dubbed “Dirtbin Durban” aimed at shaming city officials into action.
Ahead of the cycling event, a significant money-spinner for Durban, changes seemed to be afoot with security guards, police patrols and access controls on the beach.
Umhlanga businessman Chad Message voiced his ire at the state of the public stretch of beach, saying all the positive steps taken had been short-lived.
He used his cellphone to video the mess at the weekend, posting the footage on social media platform Facebook.
“The mess in Durban this morning on the beachfront was absolutely disgusting. The stench of urine, the broken glass bottles all over the road, parking lot and grass areas, rubbish and open fires are a total disregard to the by-laws in our beautiful city,” he said.
“When will our municipality do something about this? It is disgusting and these people are ruining the beachfront for the thousands of families that run, walk, cycle and swim down there!” Message added.
The eThekwini Municipality was approached for comment, but had not responded to questions at the time of publishing.
Source: News24
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