Residents have been warned to stay away from Clifton First Beach due to a sewage spill.
The City of Cape Town says the spill emanated from a blocked sewer.
“Members of the public are warned that any form of full contact, recreational activity such as swimming, diving, water skiing, paddle boarding and windsurfing may increase the risk of gastrointestinal problems as
well as skin, eye, ear and respiratory irritations,” says Mayoral Committee member JP Smith.
Meanwhile, the city says it is investigating the discharge of a toxic substance into the stormwater system in Sea Point.
A member of the public first noticed the green substance flowing into the sea and alerted the authorities.
“My research to date has identified the substance as an industrial coolant and we suspect it’s used in commercial building cooling systems,” says Cape Town’s head of Coastal Policy Development and Management
Programmes Darryl Colenbrander.
Colenbrander says the city suspects that companies servicing commercial buildings with this coolant are discharging the substance down the stormwater system which is then, in turn, landing up in the coastal environment.