eThekwini urges beachgoers to respect COVID-19 regulations
eThekwini officials say they are "more than prepared" to control the large number of beach-goers, expected to flock to Durban's shoreline this week.
Videos emerged on social media, yesterday, showing crowds of people on Durban's beaches.
The SA Weather Service says temperatures reached a high of 38.7-degrees in Durban yesterday.
The City's beaches are opened from 9 in the morning until 6pm but will be closed from Thursday to Sunday.
The Municipality's Msawakhe Mayisela's urged bathers to respect the Covid-19 regulations.
"We are therefore appealing to all of them who may be going to the beaches to ensure that they remember that there are regulations that are in place and they need to respect them but also they must ensure that they work with our law enforcement agencies.
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"They mustn't be seen as a cohort that is out there to frustrate the public. Everyone needs to understand that we need to work together to ensure we arrest the spread of the coronavirus," he said.
Police in eThekwini is beefing up their presence in and around Durban including the at the City's beaches.
"We have saturated and integrated deployment throughout the ethekwini area on the beaches and promenades, at various malls, the highway and in the CBD as well," said Durban Metro Police spokesperson, Parboo Sewpersad.
Sewpersad said they will enforce the curfew.
He says people need to be vigilant of their surroundings. "They must ensure that there is nobody watching over them at the ATMs or nobody trying to rob them. They should have an emergency number that they can make a call to at any given time."
"With regards to the separated children on the beaches, we have tents placed at strategic points on the beachfront and those points are clearly marked and children must be tagged when they come on the beach," he added.
Covid-19 infections in South Africa have now passed the one million mark.
