Port Alfred’s Royal Alfred Marina and Kelly’s Beach are benchmarks when it comes to what is required to attain Blue Flag status says a senior manager at the Wildlife & Environment Society of South Africa (Wessa) organisation in Gqeberha.
Kelly’s Beach is on track to celebrate 20 consecutive years as a Blue Flag Beach with the annual national launch announcement to take place in Port Alfred later this year.
Wessa’s, Morgan Griffiths, who heads up advocacy and governance, inspects beaches for Blue Flag compliance of three “well-run” Ndlambe Blue Flag sites.
Other beaches that are Blue Flag beaches in the region are Kariega and Middle Beach in Kenton-on-Sea.
Griffiths did random inspections to ensure water quality testing, assessing beach cleanliness, environmental management , safety and security and facilities maintenance before Blue Flag status could be confirmed.
Each year in April municipalities submit a Portfolio of Evidence of the past Blue Flag season to the National Blue Flag jury, who make recommendations to the international jury who in turn come to a final decision whether a beach can obtain Blue Flag International status in October of each year.
There are 35 guidelines to be adhered to before municipalities can earn the right to earn the Blue Flag seal of approval for their beaches. The Blue Flag is raised after the results have been released. In Ndlambe the Blue Flag season kicks off December 1 to April 30 for Kelly’s and Kariega Main Beach. Middle Beach’s season starts from December 1 and ends January 31.
“With over 51 000 sites in 51 countries around the world, Blue Flag is actively contributing to sustainable development goals,” says Griffiths.
“Ndlambe’s businesses, municipality, environmentalists, tourism sector and all role-players are showing great commitment in maintaining Blue Flag Status on beaches. Their collaborative efforts (to manage beaches) are being used by us as a yardstick for other municipalities who are seeking Blue Flag status for their beaches.”
Griffiths says the rules governing Blue Flag status are “very stringent” and accreditation is not awarded “very easily”.
In South Africa, Blue Flag accreditation has been operational since 2001 with 18 beaches at coastal municipalities around the country having earned the award. The Blue Flag movement began in France in 1976 and gained momentum in a European-wide initiative before branching out in to Africa.
The Eastern Cape boasts seven Blue Flag beaches, seven pilot sites, and one marina: The Royal Alfred Marina. Kariega Beach marks an impressive 15 consecutive years of Blue Flag status in 2024 and the Royal Alfred Marina 12.
Griffiths pointed out that water quality, sea quality, running of effective sewerage systems and maintaining these were top priorities in determining Blue Flag outcomes.
To ensure Blue Flag sea water quality met the highest global standards, rigorous and regular analysis and microbiological testing were done by independent accredited laboratories after water samples are collected, says Griffiths.
“If Blue Flag water quality standards are not met, the actual Blue Flag at the beach is lowered until tests confirm the pollution has cleared. If the pollution persists for more than 10 days, or more than 5% of samples taken show pollution above Blue Flag limits, the beach will lose its Blue Flag status for the rest of the season.”
Other criteria for Blue Flag status is that beaches should have good signage for safety messages, emergency numbers, safe zones for swimming demarcated by yellow and red flags, and have qualified lifeguards, during operational hours (typically between 08h30am and 17h30pm).
Griffiths made an appeal to beachgoers to cooperate in maintaining Blue Flag beaches.
The municipality’s Deputy Director of Community Protection Services, Fanie Fouche, says Port Alfred has been confirmed as host of the national launch of the Blue Flag announcement for the various SA beaches in October.
“This comes 20 years after we received Blue Flag status for the very first time that was announced during a similar national launch hosted at Kelly’s,” said Fouche. “This is huge for our municipality.”
The municipality also must provide environmental education programmes in line with the Wessa Environmental Calender to hold on to their Blue Flag status. “About 1,500 children and adults participated in these programmes in our last financial year, which included beach and river clean-ups, beach safety and marine wildlife, recycling initiatives etc.”
“Wessa does inspections without any prior warning, so we have to be on our toes,” says Fouche.
“We are thankful that all stakeholders are working together towards a common vision when it comes to our Blue Flag beaches, whether it is tourism, business, security industry, police and Ndlambe Municipality.”
Fouche says the Blue Flag label is hugely beneficial to the region from a job-creation point of view and has economic spin-offs too, especially as far as tourism is concerned.
“We partner with government’s Expanded Public Works programme each year and there is opportunity to apply for job-creation projects, such as beach and river clean ups and we have been part of that programme since 2005.”
Fouche estimates that Ndlambe’s Blue Flag beaches have created 7,000 short-term jobs over a 20 year period.
Other criteria for Blue Flag status is that beaches should have good signage for safety messages, emergency numbers, safe zones for swimming demarcated by yellow and red flags, and have qualified lifeguards, during operational hours
Fouche is satisfied with the repair work done to beach facilities after at least four spring tide incidents. Unusually high seas ripped through the coastline causing extensive damage that put Ndlambe’s beaches’ Blue Flag status in jeopardy.
“We managed to re-open Kelly’s Beach on December 6 and following Wessa inspections, were relieved to retain our Blue Flag status.”
Fouche says Wessa inspectors would be assessing Kelly’s and the other two beaches up to four times between now and April. “Therefore the pressure is on us to maintain our beach management programmes.”
Fouche said the public’s cooperation was crucial to retaining their Blue Flag status. “We appeal to members of the public to respect our beaches, not to litter, to pay heed to the signage, not to consume alcohol, for pet owners to pick up their dog faeces and not walk their dogs on these beaches, and to swim in the designated areas.”
Claire Wright, general manager of Royal Alfred Marina, said the marina is proud to have received Blue Flag status every year since 2013. Environmental education remains one of the main focus areas that dovetails Wessa criteria. Royal Alfred Marina was the first marina in South Africa to obtain Blue Flag Marina status, and that is a huge achievement for them and the Ndlambe region.
“As part of our environmental education programme we are creating space for learners at the marina, bringing in Rhodes students who are studying marine biology to give demonstrations to learners about our eco-system at the marina.
Beach clean-ups and river clean ups and links with the SA Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) and the SA Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) help maintain a fine balance of the marina’s ecosystem, which is a requirement for Blue Flag, said Wright.
“We also ensure that we take care of alien vegetation and that water quality is not compromised through water quality checks with the Ndlambe Municipality. Our residents on the marina are aware of the criteria and we ensure together that we maintain a pristine environment on our residential estate,” added Wright.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, January 16, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
