THE St Francis beach spit is set to be declared a local state of disaster this week af-ter high seas breached the dune in two places.
“The dune spit effectively separates the ocean from the St Francis canals,” Kouga Executive Mayor, Horatio Hendricks, said. “Mitigation measures are, therefore, under way to prevent further breaching.”
He said the disaster declaration was expected to be promulgated this week, which would allow the municipality to take further action to safeguard residents, properties and infrastructure in the affected area.
Hendricks said that both breaches were relatively small and could be repaired as a temporary protection measure.
“We have consulted with the coastal engineers who were busy strengthening the spit before lockdown came into effect.
“They have recommended that sand be mined from the Kromme River mouth. The sand will be used to strengthen the areas that have breached and those areas which are considered high risk.”
He said that, since the intended action was a listed activity, authorisation first needed to be obtained from the provincial Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (Dedeat).
“The municipality lodged an emergency application with the department in terms of Section 30A of the National Environmental Management Act.”
He said the spit was being closely monitored and that all roleplayers had already been informed of the situation, including, the National and Provincial Disaster Management Centre and the Sarah Baartman District Municipality.
