It's not just the beach: Durban promenades will close on Wednesday

Durban's picturesque promenade will be closed for all recreational activity except restaurant visits on Wednesday.

This is according to Durban metro police spokesperson Supt Parboo Sewpersad, who said promenades in the north and south of the city would be closed on December 16, 25, 26 and January 1, 2 and 3 as per President Cyril Ramaphosa's pronouncement on Monday.

“What we are going to do on the days the beaches are closed is to prevent people from going to the beach, and this will include the promenade because we don't have enough personnel to form a human chain and neither can we put temporary structures in place to prevent people from leaving the promenade and going on to the beach.

“We will allow people who are going to restaurants on the promenade or who have made bookings with the restaurants,” he said.

He said the city had developed an integrated deployment plan with the police, the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) and national traffic police which would incorporate outer and inner cordons.

The outer cordon would be for screening and searches. “At the inner cordon there will be some hard closures and soft closures. The hard closures are with barriers and soft closures are with cones and booms,” he said.

Sewpersad said the same would apply to areas north and south of Durban, such as the promenades in Umhlanga and Ansteys Beach on the Bluff.

“We will have a strong police presence with our K9, mounted, public order policing, street crime and crime prevention units all present throughout the city.”

Combined with the beach and promenade closures the joint operation would also see a number of roadblocks being set up throughout Durban as law enforcers crack down on drunk drivers and those drinking in public.

“I must emphasise, we will be coming down hard on those who are caught drinking in any public areas, including parks,” he added.

On Monday, Ramaphosa announced that all beaches and public parks would be closed in the Eastern Cape, along the Garden Route in the Western Cape and in KwaZulu-Natal.