The latest transparency blunder, which involves dangerously high E. coli levels, is not the first time the eThekwini Municipality has sought to conceal poor results.

Durban mayor Mxolisi Kaunda pledged to be transparent about the quality of sea water at city beaches over the holiday season, by publishing the results of all water quality tests conducted simultaneously by the City and an independent laboratory.

And the City lived up to that promise - until last week (24 November), when an inconvenient set of very poor results from both the municipality and Talbot Laboratories was deliberately withheld by the City's communication team - apparently on the basis that they were "outdated" and "we would not want to cause alarm for no reason".

At a media briefing on the Durban beachfront earlier this month, Kaunda further sought to reassure residents and holidaymakers that the vast majority of the city's 23 designated bathing beaches were safe and open for bathing.

Under pressure from the local hospitality industry and other groups to address the unresolved issue of poor or patchy beach water quality in the coastal holiday city, Kaunda and senior eThekwini Municipality officials also held "frank and robust" discussions with the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 9 November.

They resolved to pursue several measures to keep the city's beaches clean and safe, to "consolidate our marketing...