Smell of failure in air as Gqeberha’s coastal charm starts to fade

There was a time when Gqeberha sold itself on sea air, blue water and the sort of coastal charm that made visitors forget the potholes. These days, the potholes remain, the allure is strained and the air over some of the city’s most beautiful locations smells unmistakably like failure. Along the Wild Side, where the smell of sea salt should be carried in the air, the whiff of sewage is delivered on a southeasterly wind.

Golfers at Humewood no longer talk about the breeze off the Indian Ocean but have to apologise for the smell to tourists. Patrick Grewar said his group often experienced a sewage smell when playing at the Humewood Golf Club. “I used to love the scent of the sea you got long ago when you were walking down the fairways.

“But now often, when the wind shifts to a southeasterly, the stench comes.” Lodge owners issue refunds not because of bad weather, but because guests cannot open a window. Conservationists and residents have learnt to read the wind. The municipality says this particular stench is temporary.

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A power outage, high temperatures and infrastructure under strain are to blame. But those who live, work and play near the Cape Recife Wastewater Treatment Works say the odour is not a recent visitor. It has been a regular, unwelcome guest for years.

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