People defecating on bathroom floors, broken bottles strewn everywhere, and drunk revellers dancing on the roofs of taxis – these were scenes described as having taken place in the Blue Lagoon parking lot at the weekend.
Speaking to The Mercury yesterday from outside the Coconut Grove restaurant – the location of the revelry – a municipal law enforcement officer recalled the sight that greeted him on Saturday.
“In my 22 years [on the job] I have not seen anything like it. They showed complete disrespect for the law,” he said.
He described how between 300 and 400 people were packed into the paved lot, most of whom were consuming alcohol and were intoxicated. He and members of a metro police unit who were present could do nothing but watch as they were outnumbered and did not have back-up. The officer said the lack of communication channels between the different law enforcement bodies was, in part, to blame for the flouting of the law as there was no co-ordination of policing efforts.
“Our [communication] system is not right at all, between municipal law enforcement, metro police and the SAPS.”
A witness confirmed the municipal officer’s reports.
“They were drinking, dancing on the roofs of taxis, and women were changing, getting naked, in the open.”
The witness, who did not want to be named, said the party-goers he had spoken to were from the Eastern Cape.
The head of eThekwini Municipality’s parks and recreation, Thembinkosi Ngcobo, said his department was aware of the events.
He said about 50 taxis with Eastern Cape registration plates tried to park at South Beach on Friday, but were diverted by municipal employees to the Blue Lagoon parking lot. The passengers then decided to use the lot as the venue for their drinking binge.
Metro police were informed but, Ngcobo said, failed to act.
“It is a problem when those who are empowered to enforce the law don’t act. In my view they should have taken action.”
Metro police spokesman Eugene Msomi said that according to the reports he received, “no alcohol was consumed in the presence of officers”.
“As for members saying they could not do anything, this was in respect of buses and taxis being parked at the Blue Lagoon. The drive-in site is no longer under the metro police department, but strategic projects, our sister department,” Msomi said.
