ETHEKWINI Municipality would like to clarify that the City is currently busy with a sand-pumping operation on the beachfront, close to the harbour mouth. This is done on an annual basis to ensure that the City beaches remain in pristine condition for all beach goers. Social media reports recently that sewerage is being pumped onto the beach is malicious, false and ignorant. The sand-pumping scheme creates a recreational beach and pumps approximately 280 000 cubic metres of sand onto beaches every year.
This also acts as a buffer between the beach and infrastructure. The harbour breakwaters prevent the natural migration of sand from south to north on the beachfront necessitating the sand pumping operation. If the City did not pump sand, the beaches would erode away with the action of the waves. Continuous beach monitoring programmes are in place to provide sediment data on the beaches. Read an article about this on the SAAMBR website for clarity. https://www.saambr.org.za/what-is-that-foamystuff-on-the-beach/