The truth about the beach braais

Having read the various articles and letters written to the paper on the subject of the beach braais, I felt compelled to respond as it is an area which I know very well – unfortunately too well!

We walk/run/cycle past there several times a week and have always assisted in the beach clean-ups of the area which the Wild Life and Environmental Society of SA organises every couple of months.

First, many of the braai facilities were damaged or falling apart and it was those ones that were demolished and used to screen off the braai areas till Covid has been brought under control and close-contact partying is once more permitted/safe.

Seems none of the letter writers noticed that many of the facilities are still there for future use. One wonders if they even visited the site?

Second, there has never been a question that the facilities were put there for people to enjoy a family/friends gathering over a braai.

The issue is that drinking in a public open space is against the law.

Were it just a couple of beers or a glass on wine with the braai it could slip past unnoticed, but unfortunately that area has been prone to drunken parties where considerations of decency and social distancing sadly go out the window.

I doubt any of the sentimental letter writers have ever offered to help with a beach clean-up in the dunes behind the braai areas.

It is really disgusting with all the shattered bottles and trash the revellers hurl into the bush and dunes.

The only winners there are the glass collectors, who collect up a truck load of bottles virtually every weekend.

Last weekend, metro police were sent to that area to try to control the drinking and its consequences but were driven off by the revellers. Perhaps they should rather have sent in the army!

The facilities in that area have always tended to be illtreated by irresponsible people, probably the reason that there were a number of damaged braais and tables that needed to be demolished.

What a pity there are people who abuse a facility and in so doing deprive others of its use.

Perhaps Marlon Daniels’s four protesters would have made far more of an impact had they done some badly needed cleaning up at First Beacon and boasted some service to the community with a pile of full rubbish bags.