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Dilapidated and often dangerous – the walkways down to the beach from Colwyn Drive are in a shocking state of disrepair.
Residents of Sheffield Beach live on one of the more beautiful stretches of coast and pay a pretty penny for that right, yet they find that they often struggle just to make it down the dilapidated and often dangerous walkways to the beach.
The access paths leading down to Sheffield and Christmas Bay beaches are in such a state of disrepair that a trip to the beach could be a challenging undertaking for some.
Rotting wooden stairs, nails sticking out, cracked and collapsing cinder-block steps, steeply sloping ground and even metal rods sticking out of the grass are putting both locals and visitors off.
Residents of Colwyn Drive claim that the stairs down to Christmas Bay and Sheffield Beach have been repaired only twice in five years – and that with poor quality materials.
One local even complained to The Courier that “extreme beach finding” was no way to encourage visitors, saying “families are being turned off even finding a way down to the beach.”
DA councillor for Salt Rock Malcolm Hubner said, “There is confusion in the municipality right now as to whose responsibility this problem is.”
There has been a reshuffle of certain positions and titles within the municipality – but nobody is in charge of the maintenance and clean-up of Ballito’s beaches.
Kwadukuza municipality has not responded to questions about the problem.