Durban - The uncertainty over the future of the nudist beach on the South Coast has not stopped naturists from doing their thing, and there are talks of a beach party being planned for the Easter weekend.
In October the Hibiscus Coast Municipality, in Port Shepstone, declared Mpenjathi Beach near the Blue Flag Trafalgar Beach naturist friendly.
However, there have been calls by opposing groups, including the Concerned Citizens of HCM, for the council to rescind its decision.
On Tuesday the council was supposed to give its final ruling, but the matter was deferred pending an investigation of submissions by opposing groups.
Speaking to The Mercury after the council meeting, mayor Cynthia Mqwebu said some groups had made submissions last Thursday, and those still needed to be addressed.
The matter has also attracted interest from the provincial government. Members of the KZN legislature’s economic development and tourism portfolio committee and the council visited the beach on Wednesday last week to assess its tourism potential. “The portfolio committee requested that it be given time to consider the project as it seemed a potential catalyst to attract both international and national tourists,” said Mqwebu.
The official opening of the first nudist beach on the South Coast was planned for Friday, but has been postponed indefinitely.
Municipal spokesman Simon April said the municipality was discouraging naturists from using the beach, but it was not going to prosecute.
He said that on its recent visit to the beach it met some naturists who let slip about an event planned for the Easter weekend.
“We are in talks with KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife and the Department of Environmental Affairs to iron out some of the issues, including ablution facilities. So memorandums of understanding need to be signed with these parties,” said April.
South Coast DA caucus leader Doug Rawlins said the majority of its councillors had opposed allowing the naturists to use the beach.
“We are still against the decision that the council took, mainly because 90% of the communities which attended the public meeting are opposed to this (nudist) beach,” he said.
The Concerned Citizens’ chairman, the Reverend Mike Effanga, said nudists should be prohibited from using the beach until the matter was finalised.
“The South Coast is already a tourist magnet; it has more than 20 beaches and does not need a beach for naked people to generate tourism revenue. It’s sick to even think to allow naked people to have their way, over what the community wants,” he said.
The Mercury