Both Durban and Cape Town are enjoying some respite from high levels of E.Coli in beach water
South Africa’s prime holiday destinations are bracing for a busy festive season as Cape Town, Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast seem to have their water supply and E. coli troubles under control, for now.
Tourism authorities, business leaders and municipalities, including the City of Cape Town, Ugu district municipality and eThekwini said this week that beaches and lagoons are ready to welcome visitors as they are clean and mostly E.Coli free, while the water shortages that have plagued the South Coast in recent months appear to have been resolved.
Both the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are expecting tourism business to exceed pre-Covid-19 levels in some regions.
Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa) East Coast chairperson Brett Tungay said the industry anticipated overall occupancy of around 85% across the province for the festive season. Accommodation in the Drakensburg is already 75% to 80% booked, while the Midlands, North Coast and Durban are also “looking good” in terms of bookings, he said.
“There is no consistency around the province in terms of booking recoveries — the high end is still continuing very well but the mid-range priced accommodation is where a lot of struggle has been,” Tungay added.
He said there had also been an increase in the number of foreign tourists visiting the province and it needed to change its marketing approach.
“We have gone from 20 years ago being a primary destination like Cape Town and the Kruger National Park to becoming an ‘add-on’ for foreign markets. We need to become a primary tourist destination again,” he said.
“We need to leverage our world heritage sites and the fact that no other destination can offer top game reserves, amazing beaches, the midlands, the battlefields, Zulu, Indian and English settler culture.”
Tungay said eThekwini had addressed its E.Coli beach water crisis by fixing its wastewater treatment works but it remained at the mercy of upstream municipalities.
Artist impression of the Durban beachfront revamp.
According to the latest beach water test results, released by the metro this week, 21 beaches are open for swimming while two remain closed due to dangerously high levels of E.Coli.
“Ostensibly, most of the wastewater treatment works are back online. The last time we spoke to them they [the metro] were quite chuffed with the progress but it doesn’t help if Pietermaritzburg releases waste into the Duzi, even when the water treatment works are working in Durban.
“We get a lot of rain in summer and, even if they are working, there could be E.Coli because the Umgeni River is a drainage basin for a large portion of KZN,” Tungay said.
“It’s going to be totally weather dependent. If we have a dry summer, it will be good, if a wet summer, it’s going to be dreadful.
“This is the bugbear in the room everybody is trying to avoid. It’s easy to blame eThekwini Metro but they are the recipients of all the waste coming down from Pietermaritzburg.”
Fedhasa has been working closely with the departments of co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) and public works and infrastructure to resolve the water quality and supply problems that have plagued the south coast where, in recent years, there had been outages of more than five days, Tungay said, adding: “It seems to be slowly showing dividends.”
Southern Explorer Association chairperson Mandy Massey agreed.
“Our tap water is of drinking water standard, all beaches are clean, the lagoons are clean and we are waiting for a bumper season. Cogta has been instrumental in providing funds to the municipality to fix the water problems and they are on top of it and working hard,” she said.
Community project Tidy Towns Shelly to Margate has been working with Ugu municipality to confront its challenges, and tourists were returning to the coastline, said representative Stephen Herbst, who has previously highlighted the water crisis.
“In the last 15 years, we have not seen a pre-season turnout by people down here like we are at the moment. It’s absolutely incredible.
Our shopping malls have started with festive movement, our beaches are spotless and all open for swimming. Our tidal pools look amazing and the general feel is one of we are ready for the festive period …the south coast is shining,” Herbst said.
In recent cases, where there have been water outages, the municipality has responded swiftly to fix the problem. Herbst alerted the Mail & Guardian to three sewage spills that had been reported in the region but it was unclear as of this week whether this would affect local beaches.
Ugu spokesperson France Zama said additional emphasis had been placed on ensuring the security of water supply during the holidays.
“This includes making available adequate human resources, water tankers, service delivery vehicles and disaster management services to swiftly respond to any emergencies that may arise during this period,” Zama said, adding that extensive planned maintenance work had been conducted on major water supply systems to meet demand.
“Water supply systems are currently in a healthy condition in most areas across the district while we continue working on routine maintenance affecting certain sections of our communities.”
eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba said Durban was preparing for an influx of visitors with a “significant” economic impact.
“Projections for 2024-25 anticipate a rise in occupancy rates to 75%, over 1.3 million visitors, a direct spend of R2.5 billion and a GDP contribution of R6.3 billion … this growth translates into over 11 000 jobs, reaffirming tourism’s vital role in driving economic recovery and growth,” Xaba said.
Residents have been urged to support effective operations of the Disa River Sewer Pump Station
The Western Cape is expecting a busy season, Fedhasa Cape chairperson Lee-Anne Singer said.
“We saw an 18% increase in international visitors at Cape Town International Airport in December 2023, with continued growth into 2024.
“In the last few months, airlines like Virgin, Air France and Lufthansa have all extended their seasonal service into Cape Town and this will be the first season ever to see 88 cruise liners,” Singer said.
She said the industry hoped to achieve occupancy rates of around 75% for the December 2024/January 2025 period.
“We’re expecting 2024 to exceed both 2023 levels and pre-Covid figures,” she said, noting that Wesgro — the tourism, trade and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape — had reported 20 months of continuous year-on-year growth in terms of international passenger traffic.
“The city is looking forward to a bumper cruise season, and Cape Town has been named Africa’s Leading City Destination for 2024 by the World Travel Awards for the fourth year in a row, so it all bodes well,” she said.
Singer said the association was pleased with the City of Cape Town’s latest water quality reports which show that 100% of the 120 water samples collected at its 30 most popular beaches had met recreational use guidelines over the past month.
However, Cape Town mayoral committee member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien said a report released on 26 November detailed water quality issues, which remain a challenge.
Key findings were that sewage contamination remains a serious concern both to public health and the environment, particularly in catchments that experience a high frequency of sewage spills, largely due to vandalism and system misuse and run-off from informal settlements.
In many areas solid waste is also dumped illegally into rivers or near rivers and stormwater systems, which affects aquatic ecosystems and causes infrastructure maintenance problems.
“Daily inspections are being conducted at all coastal pump stations to ensure wet wells are thoroughly cleaned and cleared ahead of the festive season. Additionally, standby teams are on hand to respond promptly to any after-hours emergencies,” Badroodien said.
“Sewer lines, especially those near coastal areas, have also been proactively cleaned to prevent blockages and spills, which has seen 111,5km of sewer lines being cleaned already since July 2024. A dedicated spill mitigation team will be on standby to respond quickly in case of emergencies.”
He said water pollution control teams have completed grease-trap inspections at restaurants in the Camps Bay district; Century City; Koeberg Road, Milnerton; Kalk Bay; Muizenberg and in other areas to prevent the sewer system clogging.
“Quite often, foreign objects, such as rags, sanitary pads, plastics and wet wipes, are found to be the cause of recent blockages that have occurred near beaches. The latest example was at Clifton Fourth Beach when rags were removed from the sewer line to unblock it,” he said.
Badroodien said residents and restaurateurs have a major part to play in helping to prevent sewer overflows onto beaches.