Date: 2025-01-08 15:11:06
City closes two bathing beaches in uMhlanga pending an investigation of unidentified "balls" found in beach sand
ETHEKWINI NEWSFLASH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
08 JANUARY 2025
CITY CLOSES TWO BATHING BEACHES IN UMHLANGA PENDING AN INVESTIGATION OF UNIDENTIFIED "balls" FOUND IN BEACH SAND
The City is aware of the circulating video on social media recorded by an unidentified person showing “balls” mixed with beach sand found in the Umhlanga Main Beach. In the video the person is heard referring to these “balls” as dog faeces.
While the City cautions the public against circulating unverified information, Umhlanga Main Beach and Bronze Beach has been closed until further notice as a precautionary measure while the eThekwini Water and Sanitation Unit as well as the scientists from the Scientific Services conduct an analysis from the samples of the balls.
At this stage, we cannot confirm if the balls are human waste, until confirmation by the laboratory investigation. The City wishes to warn the public against spreading unverified information. We have noted that The Citizen sister paper Northglen News has reported on the balls referring to them that they appear to be human waste balls (faeces) forcing beach closures in uMhlanga.
We wish to caution media against reporting on unverified information and justifying the reporting by stating that previously beaches in Durban were closed due to high E.coli readings as this is irresponsible journalism. The City has always been transparent about issues relating to beach water quality hence an investigation is currently underway to trace the source of the “balls” and get to the bottom of the matter.
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