The heat is on in Durban: A new stadium, a new airport and with any luck a new look to the beachfront make this steamy seaside city the place to be during the World Cup
Durban’s redevelopment of the 8km stretch of prime beachfront - which includes the city’s star tourist attraction, the Golden Mile — is a bit like the class’s Ugly Betty waking up late to a matric-dance invitation.
And in the scramble to slap on make-up and get the curlers out, there are more than a few fingernails being broken and tantrums thrown.
The R120-million makeover that started early in 2009 — and is still far from finished — has seen street-traders complaining of huge losses after making way for construction teams and two court cases brought against the eThekwini municipality by beachfront leasees.
In the haste to get ready for the anticipated influx of World Cup fans, there has also been the odd bungle: road workers were this week relaying sections of new pavement that had just been laid without wheelchair access points.
Nompiliso Gumbi, a 38-year-old informal trader on Durban’s beachfront, said: “Sales have been so bad since the city moved us that we don’t have enough money to feed our children, never mind money to buy stock so that we can do business during the World Cup.”
Gumbi, a mother of three, who sold African art and crafts near New Beach, was one of more than a hundred traders moved from her usual spot in January to make way for the eThekwini municipality’s ongoing development of the fabled Golden Mile. She, like other traders, says business has slowed to a trickle because of the move. “I’m lucky if I make R100 in a week in this place [on North Beach].
“My children are going to school because of my child support grant,” said Gumbi.
Initially told construction would be completed in March — allowing them to return to their trading spots — the traders are now fretting about whether building will be complete in time for them to maximise their profits from World Cup tourists.
Thandiwe Xulu, another trader, said traders were initially told “we could return in March, then in early May and now we are still here”.
Meanwhile, Fun World, a collection of carnival rides that has been a beachfront staple since the 1950s, continues to wage a legal battle against the municipality.
At the time of going to press on Thursday, Fun World operator Nic Steyn was before Judge Chris Nicholson in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban attempting to stop the municipality from “expropriating” a portion of the land he leases from it.
The city needs the area to accommodate vendors and, in court papers, the authorities claim that Steyn’s refusal to give back the land is obstructing completion of the upgrade.
When the Mail & Guardian visited the beachfront last week, it was a hive of frantic activity.
Drills and cement mixers operated at full tilt, while tarring and paving were ongoing — and none of the workers appeared to be the designated tea-maker (a South African tradition).
Some areas were immaculate whereas others were strewn with rubble and building materials.
Municipal manager Mike Sutcliffe said construction would be complete “by the end of May” and blamed the delays on a “shortage of bitumen” and the legal battle that finally led to the expropriation of land from the XL restaurant.
Several of the contractors the M&G spoke to were adamant that the development would be ready before World Cup kick-off. “It has to be really; we are working around the clock,” said one.
“The traders’ shelters will be ready by the end of next week. The only problem is the restaurant [at New Beach] that is still a mess,” said another contractor.
But, according to Sutcliffe, the restaurants built at various nodes along the Golden Mile “were never intended to be ready for the World Cup”.
“We haven’t sent the tenders out for the restaurants because construction is ongoing, but we never intended them to be functioning during the World Cup,” said Sutcliffe.
Durban’s beachfront facelift will be a major improvement when completed — a pity that some parts will have missed the World Cup whistle.