Durban — Durban business owners operating along the beachfront say they are hopeful for the future of their city after they experienced a busy festive season , which was made easier by law enforcement officials.
According to Jean-Marc Tostee from Surf HQ, cultivating a positive image of the city will take a combined effort from the everyone in the city, not just from the governement, and thanked the police for helping businesses through the busy festive period, IOL reported.
“Look, I have nothing but positive stuff to say about our Metro Police and SAPS over this festive period. They handled the area excellently, from stopping alcohol from entering the beach, to ensuring big buses and trucks did not enter and cause traffic jams, they just managed the situation very efficiently.” he said.
He added that the negative image of Durban needed to change as there was a negative stigma surrounding the beachfront, and that the media also needed to do a better job at getting an accurate message out to the public.
Durban beaches were forced to close due to e.coli in December last year when reports suggested that it was common to see such high levels after a heavy rain, which causes pollution from multiple rivers and streams to enter the ocean.
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Tropicana Hotel boss Gavin Castleman, said they had their best festive season in five years and praised both SAPS and Metro police for their efforts.
“Kudos to the SAPS and Metro. The beaches were well managed in terms of no alcohol and no taxis or buses. Don’t take that in the wrong way, but the cops basically made them all park outside a zone and walk in to control the traffic flow. All our guests had full access to the beach and we were very positive about how things looked.”
He said it was important to ensure that the City to stay with the momentum it built over the course of last year.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
