Partnership working towards making all of SA's Blue Flag beaches universally accessible

©Konstantin Labunskiy via 123RF

The National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) and the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA/Blue Flag) are working to change the fact that not everybody is able to go to the beach and to ensure that all South Africans can enjoy the beautiful beach heritage.

Blue Flag beaches are beaches that are certified as having met high standards of environmental management, cleanliness, safety, services and amenities. Although South Africa is blessed to have dozens of beaches that meet the international Blue Flag requirements, not all of them are able to fully accommodate persons with disabilities. Recent efforts have focused on making Jeffreys Bay’s Dolphin Beach – which gained Blue Flag status in October 2016 – accessible to all.

There is no agreed-upon standard for making beaches fully accessible to all people with disabilities. The long-term goal is to ensure that all beaches with Blue Flag status are universally accessible.

Working toward viable solutions

The NCPD is working in partnership with WESSA/Blue Flag towards improving the vague framework that is being used to audit the accessibility of beaches for persons with disabilities for the purpose of Blue Flag status. The aim is to create a meaningful evaluation framework for universal access based on the principles of universal design. Universal design refers to a way of designing buildings, products and environments so that they are accessible to all people, regardless of whether or not people have a disability.

NCPD is working with WESSA/Blue flag to ensure that beaches will have universally accessible parking, beach kiosks, public toilets and access to the beach itself. WESSA and NCPD hope that these qualifying criteria will, in time, apply to beaches around South Africa applying for Blue Flag status. City and town councils must reapply each year for renewal of the Blue Flag status of their beaches.

“We are excited to be lobbying for equal access to beaches. We believe that if beaches can provide access to all facilities and relevant information for persons with mobility, hearing and vision impairments, many people will be able to enjoy the pleasure of using our beaches,” says Danie Marais, NCPD spokesman.