Gonubie residents are fuming about the hazardous state of the Gonubie boardwalk, saying it poses a danger to walkers and that small children could fall through the missing vertical droppers.
Residents on the Nubians Unlimited Facebook page took to the social media platform to vent their frustrations about the decaying state of the wooden boardwalk, once the jewel in the crown of Gonubie Beach’s long-lost blue flag status.
When the Daily Dispatch visited the boardwalk yesterday, most of the varnish had flaked off, some brittle boards creaked underfoot, benches had crumpled and missing side-droppers left perilously wide gaps, posing a danger to children.
The boardwalk was festooned with flapping hazard tape strung up by community members in a bid to close the gaps and avert falls to the rocks below.
Gonubie resident Rico de Beer has decided to take matters into his own hands. He will close the boardwalk on Friday because he fears for the safety of walkers, children in particular.
“I will close both entrances off with danger tape and put up a sign that says ‘closed’. Then people can phone the municipality to ask why,” said De Beer, who is the founder and manager of Love in Action (LIA) – a community group that provides soup and clothing for the needy, as well as providing labour in exchange for meals.
De Beer said he and his father-in-law replaced 100 droppers a year ago with materials provided by Spar supermarket chain tycoon Gotz van Westernhagen.
“But it is in a very bad state at the moment. It is very, very dangerous. It's not just vandalism – it is actually vrot. A lot of the droppers are missing and the planks are loose. To add to this, someone has already cut their foot on a nail.
“If a child falls off, who will take responsibility?”
De Beer said the floor planks, droppers and benches all needed to be replaced, but said he was not prepared to do a patch-up job again.
“If you fix it in patches it may be okay for December, but what about the rest of the year?”
DA ward councillor for Gonubie Andre Swart said the boardwalk was in “an absolutely pathetic and dangerous state”.
He said he had written to BCM’s beaches and amenities department complaining about the parlous state of the popular boardwalk and requesting it be repaired and a full-time person be assigned to keep it maintained, but had received no response.
“People are up in arms, especially with the holiday season around the corner. It is dangerous and absolutely unacceptable.”
BCM did not reply to questions at the time of writing. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za