Parliamentary criticism finally moves Nelson Mandela Bay on beachfront safety

Days after concerns about crime, vandalism and failing infrastructure at Nelson Mandela Bay’s beachfront were raised in Parliament — including an MP’s account of being attacked at knifepoint in the area — the municipality announced a series of measures aimed at improving safety along the coastline.

Residents, businesses and tourism stakeholders have for years complained about broken streetlights, overgrown vegetation, vandalised public amenities and a lack of visible policing along the Humewood and Summerstrand beachfront, warning that the decline was damaging both public safety and tourism. Despite repeated complaints, little visible action followed.

On 2 June, DA MP Baxolile Nodada used a parliamentary sitting to publicly expose the state of one of the metro’s most important tourism assets and share his harrowing experience as a victim of violent crime.

On Friday, just days after Nodada raised concerns about the state of the beachfront in Parliament, municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said the City had intensified efforts to restore streetlights and improve safety along the Humewood and Summerstrand coastline.

“To address these concerns, the Electricity and Energy Directorate has made a comprehensive assessment of the beachfront streetlight network a priority. Technical teams conducted an after-dark inspection on 4 June 2026 to identify non-operational lights, damaged infrastructure and outstanding maintenance needs.

“Following the assessment, repair teams were deployed to begin restoration work. Teams are working to restore affected streetlights as quickly as possible, prioritising areas that pose the greatest public safety risks, including key pedestrian routes, public spaces and beachfront facilities,” Soyaya said.

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He said that during their inspection, technical teams identified a combination of damaged infrastructure, stolen electrical components and isolated maintenance-related faults.

The findings had informed the prioritisation of repairs now under way, with a focus on restoring lighting in areas that had the greatest public safety impact, Soyaya said.

Soyaya said further efforts to strengthen security included closer cooperation with the South African Police Service, enhanced partnerships with neighbourhood watches and private security firms to boost patrols, improved information sharing, and speeding up responses in affected areas.

Asked by Daily Maverick whether any specific incidents had prompted the intervention, Soyaya said the municipality’s maintenance, inspection and repair programme along the beachfront was ongoing and formed part of normal operational responsibilities.

“The restoration and maintenance of public lighting infrastructure is therefore not a new intervention,” he said.

Soyaya said concerns raised by residents, stakeholders, public representatives and through formal oversight processes routinely resulted in intensified inspections, increased monitoring and accelerated corrective action.

“The recent after-dark assessment formed part of these intensified efforts to verify the status of the network, identify faults and prioritise repairs.”

Root causes

Tourism stakeholders welcomed the move, but warned that repairing streetlights alone would not address the root causes of crime and infrastructure vandalism.

Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa regional representative Glenn Pappin, who had previously also raised concern about the threat the a decaying beachfront posed for tourism, welcomed the City’s intervention.

“Any interventions from the municipality to improve our Golden Mile are welcomed by the industry.

“I commend them for repairing the lights. But I don’t want to sound negative – those lights will probably no longer be functional within a month’s time,” he said.

Pappin said authorities needed to address vandalism and cable theft if the repairs were to have any lasting impact.

“If they are not going to put people in place to protect what they repair, those lights will be dysfunctional again within weeks.

“It can’t simply be a case of fixing the lights. They need to heed our calls to increase security in that area, strengthen camera surveillance and make use of the city’s supposed state-of-the-art surveillance centre at South End Fire Station.

“Alternatively, they need to deploy municipal security to ensure the assets they repair remain operational.”

Barney’s manager and co-owner, Craig Mittens, who earlier this year donated nearly R92,000 to the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber’s Beachfront Cluster, said they welcomed the City’s intervention and that now was a good time for officials to engage with business.

Business calls for repairs, security

“We continue to invest. We continue to try and help and make it safe for our customers and for tourism.

“We want the street lights fixed. We want more Metro police and a visible police force on the beachfront. We’ve got one [police] vehicle that comes every now and again. It’s not enough. Tourists want to be safe, they want to see people at night and during the day, patrolling,” he said.

Discover Mandela Bay project manager Shaun van Eck said restoring lighting around King’s Beach was critical for both tourism and public infrastructure.

He said poor lighting had contributed to escalating vandalism in the area.

“The lifesaving club gets broken into, toilets have their pipes stolen. So it is probably the best news I’ve heard in weeks that they are going to fix the electrical system and the lights there.

“It is very important for tourism to have good lighting all the way along the beachfront,” he said.

Van Eck also called for a visible 24-hour law enforcement presence.

“We need round-the-clock visible policing from Metro Police along the beachfront. The municipality needs to come to the party. The lights are one part of the solution. The second part is visible policing, because that would help prevent vandalism in areas like this,” he said.

Summerstrand Neighbourhood Watch chair Ian Millar shared concerns about theft and vandalism.

“They better be good lights, on strong steel poles, and preferably solar-powered. Because if they have cables, we all know what is going to happen. They have to clear out the vagrants sleeping in and around the area and inside some of the beachfront buildings,” he said.

While welcoming the intervention, Millar said visible policing remained non-negotiable.

“Lighting is security 101. But Metro Police also need the resources and numbers to ensure a far more visible presence.”

Asked about what the City’s plan is for the vandalised ablution facilities and other public amenities, Soyaya said these repairs and maintenance were undertaken on an ongoing basis by the relevant municipal departments, subject to technical assessments, available resources and the extent of damage sustained.

Mayor Babalwa Lobishe said, “We have heard the concerns about non-functional streetlights and have instructed our teams to act with urgency to restore affected infrastructure.

“We will closely monitor progress, hold departments accountable for delivery, and work with our safety partners to protect public infrastructure from vandalism and theft. Our commitment is clear: the beachfront must remain safe, accessible and welcoming for everyone who uses this important public space”. DM