South Africa: Big Stink As Ethekwini Hides Its Durban Beach Water Lab Results

The Marine parade pools on Durban's "golden mile" (file photo).
analysis

The city's failure to play open cards threatens to further erode public trust in a beach monitoring system designed to safeguard public health.

Something stinks on the Durban beachfront -- and it's not just the high sewage pollution levels that have led to the repeated closures of several city beaches over the past eight months.

Our investigations have revealed several curious discrepancies over the past few weeks with the sewage pollution readings posted on public signboards to guide bathers on whether it is safe to swim.

To be charitable, could it be that sloppy officials have simply been a bit slack in updating certain information on the signboards?

Or, is it possible that more senior officials have attempted to downplay the risks that could further damage one of the city's major tourist attractions in the aftermath of the devastating April floods?

Whatever the cause, however, the city's failure to explain these apparent inconsistencies -- or to play open cards -- threatens to further erode public trust in a beach monitoring system designed to safeguard public health.

For several years, the official E. coli (sewage bacteria) contamination levels in Durban's seawater have been posted on beachfront noticeboards every two weeks for...

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