Two blue flag beaches for Durban

The city's Westbrook Beach and Ushaka Beach have been given the nod by the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA).

The flags were handed over to city officials at a ceremony in Hermanus yesterday.

Five other beaches, Umgababa, Brighton, Umhlanga and two beaches at Umdloti have been awarded pilot blue flag status. 

There is a possibility they will be upgraded to full blue flag status after a year.

eThekwini DA Councillor Geoff Pullan was among the city officials who collected the awards and says the city has been out of the blue flag system since 2008.

Pullan says this is great news for the city.

''The system is that it tells you that beaches are up to a certain quality in terms of the water quality, in terms of the life saving provided. It looks at whether there are decent ablution blocks, if there's safety and security and then some sort of educational awareness for the public,'' he said.

Pullan is advising beach goers to look after the facilities as clean beaches are vital to the city's economy.

''Looking after the environment actually pays because if the beaches are clean and well organised then a whole lot of other things fall into place too. 

''The crime is down in the area, you'll find that the marine life benefits, so there's more for people to do and there's animals to see there. Of course as a country, we bring in tourists because they love to see our animals and they love our nice, warm beaches,'' he added.

(Photo: Geoff Pullan holding up one of the new blue flags)