The incident has sparked fierce debate on social media and on Thursday afternoon Afternoon Express presenter Bonnie Mbuli stepped in to give her thoughts on the matter.
In a series of posts, she claimed the city was trying to parade an image of “white hegemonic paradise” to attract tourism.
“As a tourist attraction, Cape Town wants to be able to parade as a ‘white hegemonic paradise’ where folk like Adam Catsavelos can take selfies on the beach and claim there are no (k-word) in sight, probably part of the City of Cape Town’s scramble to recover their tourism deficit caused by drought”.
She said that even a denial by the city would not fix the perception that they were against people of colour going to certain beaches.
“Even if the City of Cape Town walks this back and releases a statement denying their involvement, they know the damage is done. The message is spreading and the die is cast, that if you’re a person of colour, you will not be allowed on the beach. If anything, it has worked as an intimidation tactic.”
Bonnie said the situation was a mess and an attempt to separate people.