Beachfront facilities upgraded after numerous incidents

MMC Helga van Staaden outside the kiosk that will now serve as an office for security officials at King’s Beach.

After numerous incidents of vandalism over the past year left ablution facilities at King’s Beach in a state of utter disrepair, the municipality has started refurbishments and implemented new security measures, just in time for the reopening of beaches announced last week.

During a recent oversight visit to facilities at the beachfront, MMC for sport, recreation, arts and culture, Helga van Staaden, explained that the metro had taken advantage of the temporary closure of beaches and had officials working around the clock to fix the damage, which included broken doors and ceilings, stolen fences, damaged roofs, taps, toilet infrastructure and burglar-proof gates.

Some of the showers that had to be removed because they contained copper pipes, in an effort to keep burglars from stealing any more copper.

MMC for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Helga van Staaden, recently conducted an oversight visit to inspect refurbishments done at King’s Beach’s ablution facilities.Photos:CANDICE BEZUIDENHOUT

She mentioned that they had spent approximately R400 000 on the toilet facilities at King’s Beach thus far and about R900 000 on repairs and upgrades at Well’s Estate.

At King’s Beach, windows have been reinforced to prevent entry, new locks have been added to toilet gates and copper pipes have been replaced with plastic ones.

One building has since been allocated for the use of the safety and security directorate, to enhance the upgraded security measures in an effort to reduce vandalism incidents.

“We have had to remove showers at King’s Beach as thieves damaged them. We have opted to use more plastic, as they are really after copper and we will be closing many of the open windows, in addition to more security measures, which we will not divulge publicly,” Van Staaden said.

“We are doing everything in our power to not lose our Blue Flag status. The reason why we are focusing so much on the ablution facilities is that of the Blue Flag status and if your ablution facilities are not up to standard, you will lose that status.

“It’s about keeping our beaches in a pristine condition, taking care of our ablution facilities and holding onto our Blue Flag status.

“When residents or tourists come, they want to be at a beach that is clean and has a Blue Flag status,” Van Staaden said.

Van Staaden points out the plastic pipes in one of the ablution blocks that replaced the copper ones targeted by vandals and burglars.

MMC Helga van Staaden points out that some of the facilities are still in the process of being repaired.Photos: CANDICE BEZUIDENHOUT

Van Staaden inspects one of the new locks on a gate outside an ablution facility at King’s Beach.

She emphasised that some of the toilets were yet to be replaced, since the metro was still busy with the refurbishments.

When asked about the reopening of pools at the beachfront, Van Staaden admitted that some of the pools had started to deteriorate.

“It is true, but the pools had been closed since long before the pandemic because we are in a drought situation.

“They did deteriorate, if we have to be honest, and then the COVID-19 period came and they weren’t seen as essential services.

“However, that does not mean that we don’t have a plan.

“We won’t be able to fix all the pools at the same time but we cannot fix the pools until we have water to put in them,” Van Staaden explained.

She added that they had requested quotations for the repairs of the pools and should receive them within the month.

“We don’t have enough money to fix them all at once, so we will have to prioritise based on which pools are used the most.”