Hout Bay Beach on New Year’s Day.
From bottles to take away bags and more, signs of the New Year celebrations were clearly left behind on Hout Bay Beach.
The beach was left in a shocking state, forcing many beach-goers who arrived on New Year’s Day, to have to clean their spot in the sun before setting up camp for the day.
Justine Ryklief from Hout Bay said they enjoyed Hout Bay Beach annually on the first day of the year, but this year, they were simply “disgusted”.
“There was litter everywhere and it just looked like there was one big party happening on the beach that nobody cleaned up after,” the mother of four said.
She pointed out the number of food wrappings, bags and cups littered along the edge of the water.
“Hout Bay has a serious problem with pollution and this is exactly why we are having this very problem. This is clearly signs that we are responsible for the pollution,” Ms Ryklief said.
Another beach-goer also living in Hout Bay, who only wanted to be known as Andy, was disturbed to see the amount of rubbish which had been left behind, and resorted to picking up the litter as he walked along the beach.
Andy said knowing about the mess and leaving it behind would have made him feel “part of the problem”.
“I come here (Hout Bay Beach) every morning to swim in these waters and take in a bit of sun. One of the most beautiful beaches in Cape Town and it gets destroyed in one night,” he said.
Andy commended the City for their efforts to keep the beach clean, but pointed a finger at those who didn’t do their bit.
“People are quick to blame the council and say they are not doing their jobs, but the people visiting the beach are not doing their jobs either. Their jobs is to help keep the beach and ocean clean. Leaving it in this state is not helping at all,” he said.
Ward councillor Roberto Quintas expressed his frustration when he saw the images of the litter left behind on the beach.
He confirmed that beach cleaning operations were ongoing, but slammed the “anti-social behaviour” of those who had left the beach in a mess.
“It is unfortunate that some people in our society have no common decency, pride in or care for their environment, and are able to simply discard trash where they sit or stand. It’s symptomatic, I believe, of antisocial behaviour by those who have no respect for themselves, or other people,” he said.