Durban's beaches are washing away from erosion by the sea, and instead of fixing the problem, the city wants to pump R50m into rescuing a marooned pier in the name of saving marine life at its flagship water park.
That's according to city residents, who are demanding to know why the municipality is "wasting" millions of rands when the city's vital beachfront defence system has all but collapsed after 10 years of maintenance delays and neglect.
The eThekwini municipality published plans last month to spend R50m to lengthen Moyo's Pier, next to uShaka Marine World, apparently to ensure a more reliable supply of fresh sea water to marine fish tanks in the water park.
Last year, the city spent R15m on an emergency pumping scheme to restore several tourist beaches that had been washed away by the sea.
The city acknowledged that its sand-pumping scheme had been dysfunctional for a decade - but gave an assurance that the scheme would be operational by July 2018. However, nearly a year later the scheme is still not working.
Last month, the city said uShaka was no longer able to extract enough sea water to flush and replenish its marine display tanks - claiming that "since its inception, the extraction system has not provided the design volume".
The marine theme park, which opened in 2004, draws its sea water from a network of 60 wells located directly beneath Moyo's Pier.
"During sand-pumping events, elevated seabed levels cause the flow of the extraction system to drop to dangerously low levels, placing marine life in the aquarium at risk. Extending the pier will allow for 70 additional well points to be placed further seaward."
But local residents have challenged the city's version, arguing that the R50m price tag to extend Moyo's Pier by 100m could be avoided entirely if the municipality just repaired its sand-pumping scheme.Durban businessman and paddle-skier Johnny Vassilaros blames the city, arguing that the central beaches have been left with too little sand, while there is too much sand in the vicinity of Vetch's Pier and the Point Waterfront. "All that needs to be done is to curb the excessive pumping of sand on Vetch's and uShaka Beach and allow the sea to return to its original mark when the pier was built."Fellow resident Malcolm Keeping agreed, saying all the problems would be solved and beaches would be saved if the city repaired its ailing pumping system.City spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said budget constraints nearly two decades ago meant that the final length of Moyo's Pier was shorter than the original design and needed to be extended.Transnet did say that a section of its sand-pumping operation had been under repair last week, but did not explain why it and the city were still not pumping sand into the 3.5km-long land network - or whether the city's booster pump stations were working.Vassilaros and fellow marine sportsman Rory O'Connor believe the city may have a "hidden reason" for pumping large volumes of sand near Vetch's Pier, suggesting that there could be a deliberate effort by the city to maximise the development footprint of the proposed R35bn Point Waterfront extension project and new promenade.O'Connor said the city needs to clarify its intentions and why it appears to be ignoring best practice proposals by its own coastal engineering advisers, who recommend that new developments should not be sited directly on the shoreline.This was to avoid the risk of potentially "catastrophic" damage from rising sea levels and the increased ferocity of sea storms due to global warming.The city did not respond to queries about whether the R50m project was an effort to defend the new promenade and Point Waterfront development from coastal erosion. Mayisela said, however, that the city was overseeing the construction of the new promenade and that "the work complies with the environmental authorisation".uShaka Marine World did not respond to queries, and Bevarah Soban Baabu, project director of the Point Waterfront development, referred all queries to the city.The Durban Point Development Co is a 50/50 joint venture between the eThekwini municipality and ROC Point, which is majority owned by the UEM Sunrise group of Malaysia...