APPROXIMATELY five years after renovations were supposed to be completed and the facility reopened to the public, the once flourishing Beachview Resort remains closed – and in a state of utter disrepair.
During PE Express’s visit to the facility last week, yellow barricades, some of which had been knocked over, had been placed in front of the rusted iron gate.
Graffiti adorned the crumbling walls and, through the ball of barbed wire on the inside of the gate, the abandoned security office was visible. The windows of the office had been shattered at some point and the concrete blocks underneath the structure, could barely hold it up anymore.
Although cars cannot enter the facility, some swimmers and anglers have taken advantage of the broken down fencing.
In the distance, not far from a “No lifeguard on duty” sign, two children were swimming in the natural rock pool, which was at its deepest in the late afternoon, due to the high tide. A few metres away, a woman was drying herself with a towel after her swim.
The councillor of Ward 40, Jason Grobbelaar, said the tenant who was supposed to manage the resort, ran it into the ground years ago.
“Things became so bad that the municipality had to step in and close the facility as it had become a health and safety hazard.”
Grobbelaar also mentioned that after the DA-coalition came into power in 2016, R5 million was allocated in the following financial year, specifically for Beachview. This money could, however, not be spent as the NMBM, who wanted to regain control of the resort, was caught in a court battle with the tenant.
“The tenant was also contesting the budget. Since court cases run for a long period of time and as we had no idea when a verdict would be reached, the money had to be used elsewhere,” Grobbelaar explained.
According to him, the court case was still ongoing up until December 2018, when the tenant withdrew the case. “The resort was back in the municipality’s hands but since the NMBM did not know that the court case would be over by then, no money was allocated,” he added.
Grobbelaar said he had written a letter to the director of beaches, Kithi Ngesi, about the situation, who in turn said that a notice for a tender would be sent out. This can only happen if a terms of reference document is set up, which could apparently take up to six months.
Grobbelaar mentioned that he received this reply from Ngesi in October last year and would keep his eye on the proceedings when the six months expired in April.
“This situation is extremely frustrating, because Beachview is an asset to the city that will attract tourists if reopened.
“The NMBM doesn’t have to open the whole facility right away because that could probably cost millions. They can do it in phases and at least start by opening up the day camping facilities first,” he said.
Municipal spokesperson, Mthubanzi Mniki, said that the resort is still closed because it’s not safe to be occupied. “There are no services and safety is also an issue as the area is not fenced. This is according to the report that was done before the resort was closed to the public,” Mniki explained.
According to him, there is a delay in renovations because of a lack of budget availability.
He did, however, mention that the municipality was planning to reopen the resort.
“The first phase was the development of the NMBM resorts development and management plan, that was approved by council. The second phase is the drafting of the terms of reference that will be put out on tender and be subjected through the supply chain management process,” Mniki said.
“Once finalised, this will result in the appointment of a service provider (s) who will be operating and managing the resort on behalf of the municipality,” he added.
“The municipality has also provided a budget for the next three years to fence the resort and also to attend to infrastructural requirements while the above is in process.”
