Bluewater Bay Surf Living Club volunteers had their hands full on Sunday 17 December as they battled to deal with large crowds and unruly visitors.
Beachgoers parked badly in the parking lot, drank alcohol and urinated behind the public ablution block which is currently out of order.
“I tried to speak to them nicely this morning, but they totally ignored me,” said senior lifeguard, Bridget van der Merwe.
“We managed to move the alcohol drinkers off the beach, but they just gathered in the parking lot. There were three to four hundred people there, so there was nothing we could do,” said another senior lifeguard, Dirk Burger.
“With about 100 people in the water at any one time during the day, our main aim was to keep the bathers safe,” said Bridget.
The lifeguards said they had not seen any police there to control the behaviour of the people in the parking lot.
On a Residents’ WhatsApp group, one beachgoer commented: “What a disaster. Loud music, drinking. This is now getting out of hand.” After adding a few angry face emojis she continued to comment. “Close the beach or get a boom-gate. Can you imagine what our beach will look like at Christmas and New Year? She said both the Metro and SAPS were phoned several times, without any luck.
Lilian-Mari Slabbert, Chairperson of the Bluewater Bay, Amsterdamhoek and Swartkops branch of Freedom Front+, said she had taken her grandchildren and friends to the beach to celebrate the birthday of one of her grandchildren. She was “disgusted” with what she saw. There was a man walking around urinating and falling on parked vehicles. She said some of the people then fell on her car. When she complained, they merely hung on her car and asked what she was going to do about it. “The bakkie behind me was a shabeen on wheels. We left after a very short time. It’s not fair. We should feel safe and welcome on our beach.”
Slabbert said she would not be leaving the matter there. I am going to throw my toys out of the cot. I am going to speak to the ‘higher-ups’. We will see who the best people are to contact, the Metro Police. Today was just horrific. I felt so embarrassed.” The grandchild, her siblings and friends were really looking forward to spending a few hours on the beach before going home to enjoy cake and cooldrinks. Instead of that, they had to return home almost immediately.
.The Echo will approach SAPS for comment tomorrow.
