South African naturalists association
The nudists, to the annoyance of some who don`t want them there, got approval from local government last year and Saturday the official opening on Mpenjati Beach came and the clothes came off. It is a welcome baring for local nude sunbathers as South African nudists must worry about prosecution if caught naked on a beach.
About 100 beach bums were there and the chairman of the South African National Naturist Association (SANNA), Serge Pavlovic told local media the plan for the Easter Weekend is to swim and relax and have fun with activities like nude volleyball and nude sack races.
“It was a fantastic day on the beach,” Pavlovic told AFP when Saturday drew to a close. “We had lots of people on the beach, no problem whatsoever, wonderful weather, warm water, fantastic beach.
“Things over the years have progressed that now having naturist beaches is common practice,” he added. “The logical consequence was to make it official so we would no longer need to fear arrest.”
Group opposes nudists on beach
Some 500-metres of beach are marked off for the nudists on Mpenjati Beach which, rather appropriately, is part of the Mpenjati Nature Reserve. The Reserve, on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, is near the seaside resort town of Margate. There are signs warning those who are not nudists that they might encounter naked people.
While South Africa and other areas of the continent have had unofficial nudists beaches, the nude beach at Mpenjati is the first to gain permission to exist on the African continent. The opening was considered to be but a trial run, designated that by the local government after an irate residents group tried to get them to nix the entire idea.
The residents group that does not want the nudists on the beach told local media that having nudity there is likely to produce a “negative effect on a society that is striving for wholesome lifestyles.”
The opening of the nudist beach gained a good deal of attention, and not just in South Africa. Pavlovic said the nudist association has received “congratulations from all over the world.”
