Beaches north of the Umgeni River up to Salt Rock remain closed as a precautionary measure after the spill that occurred when a chemical warehouse in Cornubia was torched during recent unrest.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) say eThekwini Municipality and the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs must be held accountable for the UPL chemical spill.
A company at the centre of a criminal probe following the riots and subsequent toxic spill in Durban has defended operations at its Cornubia chemical warehouse.
An entire ecosystem, which includes the oHlanga tributary, the uMhlanga estuary, the beaches and the coastal environment, has been seriously affected and may take several years to recover from the fallout from a fire at the UPL chemical warehouse in July, forestry minister Barbara Creecy said.