This announcement was made by WESSA at a ceremony at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town today.

South Africa was the first country outside Europe to be granted Blue Flag accreditation for its beaches and the programme has been locally managed by WESSA since 2001 in partnership with participating coastal municipalities. The strict criteria of the programme are set by the international coordinators of the Blue Flag campaign in Europe, the Foundation for Environmental Education. (wessa.org.za)

Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Executive Mayor congratulated the officials and the leadership of the municipality by thanking them for their hard work.

"I am very happy that we have two more beaches currently in a pilot phase as it means that we have to maintain the same high standards that we do at our fully-fledged Blue Flag beaches.

"This not only bodes well for our local residents, it is also an indication to tourists (both nationally and internationally) that they can enjoy our beaches with the knowledge that water quality, cleanliness and good infrastructure are amongst the metrics we are measured to obtain Blue Flag status,” Mayor Bobani said.

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Issued on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality by Municipal Spokesman Kupido Baron (082 780 2726 / 041 506 1500 / kbaron@mandelametro.gov.za / @kupidobaron).