The South African National Parks (SANParks) and the City of Cape Town are concerned about the growing trend of defacing and disfiguring the natural coastline by stacking rocks to form structures in Kommetjie beaches. This practice has been noted from the boardwalk at the end of Nerina Road and southwards to Slangkop Lighthouse. In a […]
Defacing natural coastline a concern is a post from: Cape Town
This is quite ridiculous. A passing hippie surfer balanced some rocks to produce some interesting sculptures. A grumpy old man took exception to this and, claiming to represent a group of “concerned residents” (3 other crusty, depressed killjoys) embarked on a campaign of harassing City and CapeNature officials by email. They eventually produced the quoted press release in the hope that he and his narrow-minded troupe would leave them in peace.
The use of the term “stacking” of rocks is misleading, implying that some kind of significant structures were created. Similarly the statement that the sculptures are a danger to children and old people is disingenuous: the area is a rocky seaward shore comprising a random unstable jumble of rocks of all sizes and shapes having slippery surfaces, loose rocks and a highly irregular surface with many different ways that a person stupid enough to try to walk there could be hurt. The re-arrangement of a tiny fraction of the rocks to form the sculptures has not made the area any more dangerous to children and old people than it ever has been.
Rather than kow-towing to a grumpy old man, available resources should be allocated to combating the poaching of crayfish and other marine resources, which is rife in the area, and protection and restoration of the dune vegetation in the vicinity.