Sign of incompetence – Gqeberha’s Sho’t left takes a very wrong turn

It takes a special kind of effort to put up a sign that points people in the wrong direction — but the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has managed it.

A new sign at the Pollock Beach parking lot is meant to guide visitors to Gqeberha’s top spots, like King’s Beach, Bayworld and Cape Recife. Instead, it appears to have been planted in reverse, sending tourists marching in the exact opposite direction.

On the bright side, it helpfully notes that Schoenmakerskop is just a 225-minute walk away.

Anyone who’s not familiar with navigating the city and follows the arrows will end up walking away from the attractions they’re trying to find – or strolling into the sea.

On its own, it’s an amusing mistake. But it was erected on a beachfront battling serious safety concerns, vandalism, broken streetlights and years of municipal neglect.

DA MP Baxolile Nodada and his friend were violently attacked on the beachfront in June. Nodada’s friend was stabbed six times.

Nodada escalated the safety issues to Parliament, where he highlighted municipal failures, accusing authorities of gambling with residents’ safety in a city grappling with non-functioning streetlights, cable theft and inadequate security patrols. 

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Ward 2 councillor Sean Tappan said he had asked the municipality to investigate the problem.

“I have not been to see the sign ... because I was attending to other business, but if the pole was drilled to the ground then it’s going to be difficult to correct it, but if not then it should be easy to fix. Whoever did it, if it’s not AI, is incompetent, and whoever approved it in the metro should be embarrassed.”

Tappan said the fact that the sign had been there for a few days was shameful and unacceptable. 

“We should start telling people to not follow the sign as it will lead them in the wrong direction. It’s just ridiculous. But what I’m [most] interested in is: how much did it cost?”

The member of the mayoral committee for Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture, Bassie Kamana, said he would ensure that the sign was corrected.

“It is such an unfortunate tourism blunder that makes us look like fools. I will follow up on the matter so it is fixed, and I will find out who is responsible for it so that consequence management is effected.”

Metro spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya did not respond to questions.

Local DJ Daron Mann was not particularly surprised by the error.

“I have to congratulate our municipality on erecting a sign that doubles as a perfect metaphor for its governance – confidently pointing everyone in the wrong direction.”

Social media users made a mockery of the situation. Former SuperSport presenter Derek Alberts posted on Facebook, “I initially assumed that this had been doctored by AI, because surely, even the utterly incompetent Nelson Mandela Bay municipality can’t be this useless. But fear not, they are indeed capable of plumbing new depths of dysfunction. Oh, for clarity, that ‘signage’ is all pointed in the wrong direction.”

Resident Andrew McLean said he was surprised that the metro did not have a sign indicating “the pubs they like drinking Hennessy and Johnny Blue at on municipal credit cards”.

Another local, Mubeen Baboo, poked fun at the blunder, joking: “In 400 meters turn right – but only if you can swim,” pointing out that the sign’s arrows would send unsuspecting tourists walking straight into the ocean.

‘Rather embarrassing’

Glenn Pappin, the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa) regional representative, described the incorrectly positioned sign as “rather embarrassing”.

He said it appeared as though a contractor had recently refurbished the sign and may have caused a blunder.

“It looks like they got it all mixed up and put it up the wrong way,” Pappin said. “I hope the contractor has not been paid for the work that was done.”

He said the sign needed to be corrected urgently, warning that it could have consequences for visitors unfamiliar with the area. “If tourists actually read those signs, I guess we could end up with a tourist ending up in an area that we would not want them to end up,” he said.

Pappin said the effort to improve signage was welcome, but the execution left much to be desired.

“Ten out of 10 for trying, but zero out of 10 for execution.”

His frustration extended beyond the sign – the condition of the entire surrounding beachfront area was also disappointing.

“I am a bit lost for words today because, you know, as I am driving through this area, the grass is uncut. It is disappointing,” he said. The priority now was to ensure that the problem was resolved as soon as possible.

“I just hope that they fix this quickly,” he said. DM