The Whalebone Pier at Umhlanga Rocks has reopened after being closed for three months of renovations.
Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda officially reopened the tourist attraction on Thursday December 14 following a R3.2 million project to reinforce it. The pier has also been repainted and its mosaic art has been refreshed.
The concrete pier was opened in 2007 and is one of the most photographed places in Durban.
At the ceremony, Mr Kaunda tried to dispel fears about poor water quality at Durban’s beaches.
On Monday December 11, the City published joint results with Talbot which showed that six sites tested all had all recorded exceedingly high levels of E. coli.
All six beaches, namely Ushaka, Point Beach, South Beach, North Beach, Battery Beach, and Country Club Beach, were closed due to unsafe conditions.
The results were based on tests done on December 7.
On Tuesday December 12, the City claimed the water was safe for use after it had been tested again the day before.
Mr Kaunda sought to underscore this, saying joint sampling by the municipality, the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and Talbot that week showed most of the City’s bathing beaches were compliant with acceptable standards for recreational use.
“The monitoring and routine weekly testing across all the city’s 23 bathing beaches continues, and if there are any challenges with water quality, we don’t hesitate to close affected beaches because the safety of the public is of paramount importance to us. The closed beaches are re-opened once testing proves acceptable water quality,” said Mr Kaunda.
And the results from the joint sampling of the beach water quality tests that the municipality conducted with Talbot on behalf of Adopt-A- River, on Tuesday December 12, showed “excellent” and “acceptable” water quality that was compliant with acceptable standards, he said.
Point, uShaka, North, South and Battery beaches had excellent water quality, he said but conceded that Country Club Beach had poor water quality.
He said the City was ready for the festive season and 62 new Metro Police would help to heighten visible policing.
“The law-enforcement officers will be supported by the CCTV cameras that we have repaired throughout the inner city to prevent crime,” he added.
