Metro cops nab Kings Beach digger

Sharp-eyed metro police officials have pounced on a man allegedly illegally excavating sand from the Kings Beach dunes.

Officials patrolling the area spotted a truck operating in the dunes on Sunday, metro police chief Yolanda Faro said.

“They observed a truck in an open space between the dunes at Kings Beach, loading sea sand onto [the vehicle],” she said.

Faro said the man was charged under public amenities bylaws prohibiting the excavation of soil, sand or stone or removing organic objects from the shoreline.

“He wanted the sand to do brick paving,” she said.

The suspect, who was also the owner of the truck,  was issued with an admission of guilt fine of R1,000.

“More charges might follow pending further investigation” Faro said, adding that the  man had not yet paid the admission of guilt fine.

Oceanographer Dr Eckart Schuman said on Tuesday that illegal sand mining was a huge problem on the Wild Coast, where it was damaging the structure of dunes and the indigenous vegetation covering those set away from the beach.

“You also don’t want to mess with a fore-dune because of the protection it offers against high tides and storm surges.”

Kings Beach formed after the completion of the Port Elizabeth Harbour breakwater in 1934, when sand drifting in a northerly direction on the inshore current banked up against it and slowly fanned out, he said.

“So Kings Beach is technically an artificial beach. But it has been there long enough perhaps to be considered permanent.

“A little way up the beach is a natural seepage and wetland which attracts a lot of birds so it’s an important little area.”

Sea sand was typically no good for making cement because of its high salt content, he said.

Wildlife and Environment Society Algoa Bay branch chairperson Gary Koekemoer said Kings Beach was one of three Blue Flag beaches in Port Elizabeth managed by the organisation in terms of international criteria showcasing environmental, safety and access conditions.

“This sand mining that was tackled here by the metro police is unacceptable on a Blue Flag beach and unacceptable generally in terms of its effect on our environment.

“Someone might think it’s fine if he only takes a bit but then someone else joins in — as with the dumping of rubbish, the accumulative damage can be terrible,” he said.

“Our beach dunes are part of a precious resource we have in Algoa Bay and we need to take care of them.”

Even if the sand was used only as a platform to lay paving, the salt content was still a problem because it would leach out and kill surrounding plants, he said.