The eThekwini Municipality said on Thursday it is hiring seasonal workers for the upcoming festive season to be deployed to beaches across the metropolitan area.
The municipality is looking to employ childminders, lifeguards, and waste pickers.
It did not specify as to how many in each discipline would be hired, while city communications representative Princess Nkabane said that details of the vacancies are advertised in the Metro Ezasegagasini.
Beaches in the municipality appear to be in better condition this year with respect to E coli levels, as both the city and private testing company Talbot has conducted regular tests during the course of the year.
The city said using an independent firm to test the water would ensure transparency.
Twenty-three out of 27 beaches in the metro are open for swimming, according to the municipality during a presentation on its state of readiness for the festive season on Thursday.
“We have also increased the frequency of testing the water quality. Ordinarily, we test our water quality once a week, but now we are testing twice so that if anything goes wrong, we will be able to pick it up immediately,” it said.
The city also reopened the Lagoona Pools with their famous yellow slides.
“Currently, we are finalising the recruitment of seasonal workers who will be deployed on all our beaches. These include childminders, lifeguards, and waste pickers.”
Tourism in the KwaZulu-Natal province contributed just over R13 billion to the national economy in 2020, according to a report by KwaZulu-Natal Tourism. This was despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
As fears of travelling to foreign countries or provinces ease among people, authorities within the tourism sector say that KZN’s tourist revenue will skyrocket in the near future.
Marc Wachsberger, the CEO of The Capital Hotels, Apartments, and Resorts, said the country’s tourism industry recovered from the pandemic and is pursuing major growth.
The hotel executive said South Africa had around two million foreign visitors in the first quarter of 2023.
IOL