Cape Town residents caught ‘privatising’ coastline

Some Cape Town landowners are sneakily “privatising” pieces of the city’s coastline.

An audit of the 240km-long coastline found more than 200 illegal encroachments, the city reported on Tuesday.

The encroachments include illegal lawns, decks, trampolines, sea defence structures, pools and restaurant areas.

They were noted along the Atlantic seaboard and False Bay coastline.

“Pre-notices and final notices to remove these unlawful structures and to rehabilitate the affected areas have been served on some owners, and more will follow in coming months,” the city said.

Eddie Andrews, the city’s head of spatial planning and environment, said the coastal bylaw prevented anybody from installing an encroachment or knowingly allowing an encroachment to continue “irrespective of whether this is permanent or temporary”.

“An encroachment may be any structure or building, including fences, walls, barriers, swimming pools, irrigation systems, landscaping, gardening, infilling and so forth,” he said. 

“I appeal to those who have received these notices to comply and to undertake the necessary rehabilitation work as soon as possible. City officials will inspect these sites to ensure compliance. I want to add that we will not hesitate to take legal action where necessary,” he warned.

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