Electrical infrastructure at the King’s Beach precinct has been vandalised. (Photo: Deon Ferreira) Nearly two months after Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality promised residents and visitors that it would restore vandalised beachfront lighting and electrical infrastructure, much of the city’s flagship tourism precinct remains in the dark.
The municipality’s commitment followed a public dressing-down in Parliament and an after-dark inspection of the beachfront in June. At the time, Mayor Babalwa Lobishe promised that non-functional streetlights would be repaired urgently and that repair teams from the electricity and energy directorate had been deployed to begin restoration work.
Earlier this year, Daily Maverick reported on the spiralling decay and rampant vandalism at King’s Beach and Happy Valley. While King’s Beach continues to battle neglect, businesses and residents have since steadily given Happy Valley a new lease of life.
Tourism representatives and Ward 2 councillor Sean Tappan say the promised improvements have yet to materialise, with vandalism, theft of electrical infrastructure and crime continuing unabated. Tappan added that the budget allocated to ward 2, which forms a large part of the beachfront precinct, was simply not enough to fix years of neglect.
/file/attachments/orphans/Photo17_859514.jpg "Some individuals are occupying the toilets at the Kings Beach precinct. (Photo: Kyran Blaauw)")
CCTVs going up, but crooks still running amok
Glenn Pappin, regional representative of the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa), said the only visible progress has been the rollout of additional CCTV cameras by municipal entity the Mandela Bay Development Agency.
While he welcomed the installation of the cameras, he questioned their effectiveness in poorly lit areas.
“It’s disappointing that, after a promise from the municipality, there has been absolutely no improvement in that area,” Pappin said. “The only positive thing that’s happening at the moment is I can see that the camera rollout that’s under the purview of Mandela Bay Development Agency is taking place, because I was on site.”
He warned that surveillance infrastructure alone would not solve the problem if lighting and security remained inadequate.
“With inadequate lighting, if those cameras are not monitored correctly and lack security, that infrastructure will be torn up and those cameras will be useless within weeks.”
Pappin said underground electrical infrastructure continued to be stolen and lights had again been looted in the King’s Beach parking area and around the pond precinct. He had previously also expressed concern that the decay along the beachfront posed a serious threat to the tourism sector.
The City’s delays are hardly surprising after the electricity and energy directorate at the end of June decided to flip the switch on the streetlight repairs and installation project, as staff feared being implicated in irregular payments due to vastly differing invoices for similar work.
The municipality announced on 5 June 2026 that it had conducted an after-dark inspection the previous evening to identify non-operational streetlights, damaged infrastructure and outstanding maintenance needs along the Humewood and Summerstrand coastline.
The inspection formed part of what the municipality described as efforts to restore beachfront street lighting and strengthen public safety along the coastline.
Lobishe said at the time that the beachfront was a flagship destination and an important asset for residents, visitors and the local economy.
“We have heard the concerns about non-functional streetlights and have instructed our teams to act with urgency to restore affected infrastructure,” she said. “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.”
The municipality did not respond to repeated requests for an update on efforts to repair vandalised lighting and other electrical infrastructure along the King’s Beach beachfront. This included MMC (member of the mayoral committee) for Electricity and Energy, Ziyanda Mnqokoyi, who said she would seek clarity from Acting Executive Director for Electricity and Energy, Noluvuyo Mbangata. No answers were provided.
‘Minuscule’ budget for beachfront project
Tappan said only a handful of lights along the beachfront walkway had been repaired, while the most problematic areas remained severely neglected.
“In terms of the light fixing, that hasn’t taken place, specifically around that King’s Beach park area. They just fixed a few lights along the walkway,” he said.
Tappan said crime, including robberies, vandalism and vehicle break-ins, remained a persistent problem along the entire beachfront despite the recent launch of the municipality’s tourism safety officers programme.
He also raised concerns about ongoing sewage problems at King’s Beach.
“There’s sewage flowing at King’s Beach as we speak because a pump station is down. They haven’t listened to my request for a diversion pipe, and we are a few months away from the World Lifesaving Championships. I don’t know how they’re going to solve that problem.”
Tappan said repairs had been carried out to the roof of one of the beachfront ablution facilities, but he could not confirm whether the internal infrastructure had been repaired or if the facility was operational.
The municipality has allocated R5.6-million in the 2026/27 financial year for maintenance and upgrade projects at several of the city’s iconic beaches.
Ward 2, which includes much of the beachfront tourism precinct, has been allocated R1.945-million.
Projects listed in the ward budget include R600,000 for the Summerstrand Beach Development project, R500,000 for upgrades to the King’s Beach kiosk, R500,000 for Forest Hill Cemetery, R100,000 for public lighting and R45,000 for public lighting retrofits.
Tappan argued that the allocation fell far short of what was required to maintain the city’s primary tourism hub.
“It’s a minuscule amount of money,” he said. “Ward 2 is the highest income-generating ward for tourism with regards to all the hotels, events, conferences – everything happens on the beachfront – yet we get the smallest budget from the ANC-EFF municipality.”
He claimed the allocation had been politically motivated.
/file/attachments/orphans/Photo19_206156.jpg "A children’s pool area at the Kings Beach precinct is run down and abandoned. (Photo: Kyran Blaauw)")
According to Tappan, the beachfront requires substantially more investment to address deteriorating infrastructure, vandalism and public safety concerns.
“We have a hell of a challenge”. Tappan argued that the the allocated approved ward budget was far too little.
He says Ward 2 should ideally have been allocated a significantly larger budget given its status as the city’s tourism hub and the extensive infrastructure backlog it faces.
“That figure of R1.9 million should literally have two noughts on it or at least one nought. It should either be R19 million or close to R100 million to look after the tourism hub of the city.
“When people land, the first thing they want to do is go to the beach and the beachfront. When there’s an event like the Spar Ladies Challenge or the Ironman or triathlons and the Lifesaving World Championships, hotels, visitors and conferences – everything is normally along the beachfront.
“Yet there is a total disinterest and disinvestment from the current municipality. What do we then have to offer the tourists who want to come visit our city?”
Meanwhile, the metro has set aside R500,000 to be spent on repairing fencing and braai facilities at Brighton Beach.
A further R1.5-million has been set aside to upgrade the balustrade at the Wells Estate beachfront.
The City has announced that it also allotted R2-million to be used to upgrade fencing at Maitlands beach, with an additional R1.5-million to be spent on repairing vandalised ablution facilities at Sardinia Bay Beach. DM