The doors of the newly refurbished beach huts at Muizenberg Beach have been removed in an effort to curb vandalism.
Photograph: Taryn Elliott/Pexels
Angela Gorman, founder and trustee of the Beach Huts Trust, says ‘petty vandalism’ has been an ongoing problem. ‘I think it is petty vandalism, people breaking the doors or leaving the huts disgusting and filthy dirty. We have just repaired the damage to the Nutec, which is close to the doors, and we have repaired the slacks in the windows. We also have a team to clean the huts before and after the weekend.’
The City of Cape Town allocated R3 million toward the repair and refurbishing work of the huts in January last year. News24 reports that the remainder of the funding was sourced from fundraising efforts.
‘The doors have been removed to stop people from vandalizing, so you will always be visible from the outside. If you are using the hut as a changing room, you can always ask a friend to hold up a towel in the doorway,’ says Gorman, adding that the City has been helpful by scraping off paint from some of the huts.
She says it costs R100 000 to refurbish each unit. ‘We are looking for businesses and sponsors who would like to donate the materials. The Nutec was donated to us and we are looking for help to build the stairs and the structural parts, so we need wood. There are 13 huts that still need to be refurbished. We have done eight huts in the front and seven along the east section of the beach.’
For more information or to assist with the project, contact Gorman at 079 504 1933 or email [email protected].
