On September 12, Buffalo City Metro, Border Kei Chamber of Business and Buffalo City Tidy Towns committed to refurbish ablution facilities at beaches and parks in preparation for the festive season.
This comes after ward councillors in the city have complained that residents and tourists are forced to use bushes to relieve themselves because public toilets are broken, unsafe or completely inaccessible.
The municipality has confirmed that ablutions at Gonubie beach, Bonza Bay beach and Nahoon beach will be refurbished and that the work will be concluded before the festive season starts.
The municipality said that refurbishment for ablution facilities at Bonza Bay had been included in the projects for 2023/2024, however this was delayed because the city had no annual contractors for repairs and maintenance.
The process to appoint new contractors is still at bid specification stage.
The municipality also stressed that refurbishment of ablution facilities at picnic sites such as Batting Bridge, was the responsibility of the department of sports, recreation and arts and culture.
Tidy Towns Buffalo City member, Dean Knox said the organisation welcomed the municipality’s commitment to fixing the facilities and applauded local businesses including CTM Amalinda and On Tap for their contribution towards fixing taps, toilet bowls and gates behind EL Surf Lifesaving club, in the past.
Knox said: “The main challenge with ablutions is vandalism and vagrants who climb in to sleep and leave a mess. We hope to the refurbishment will include fitting gates to lock up at night, some paint and patching walls and walkways, improving drainage of floor water and fitting toilet roll holders.
“We also wish to restore showers at the sand’s edge to working order.”
Ward councillor Frederick Pohl said facilities at Bonza Bay beach and Batting Bridge were unsafe and most of the toilets and taps were out of order.
Last year a contractor was appointed to fix the facilities at Bonza Bay however the final product, in Pohl’s estimation, does not meet national building regulation standards because there are no windows for ventilation, no electricity for visibility and the timber pathway to the toilets was removed without being replaced by new boards.
Beacon Bay Ratepayers’ Association chair Malcolm Symons welcomed the proposed refurbishment but said the municipality needed to dedicate resources this festive season towards enforcing by-laws that prohibit public drinking.