PICS: Second youngest lighthouse in SA marks 37 years of service

Durban — The second youngest lighthouse in South Africa, the Jesser Point Lighthouse, will mark 37 years of service this month.

Jesser Point Lighthouse is situated along the KwaZulu-Natal north coast at Sodwana Bay within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) lighthouse and navigational systems acting executive manager Alex Miya said: “It is the most northerly light on South Africa’s east coast.

“Jesser Point Lighthouse was first lit on the night of April 30, 1986, making it the country’s second youngest lighthouse after Groenriviermond on the Northern Cape coast.”

Groenriviermond Lighthouse is the youngest of South Africa’s lighthouses. It was commissioned on November 21, 1988. It is situated on the Northern Cape coast. Picture: Supplied

Miya said the 11-metre cylindrical concrete tower is painted white with a red lantern house, and the optic produces four flashes every 40 seconds. It is connected to the mains supply and has a standby diesel generator.

Miya said Jesser Point Lighthouse is fully automated and is not manned. Scheduled maintenance is performed by teams from TNPA in Richards Bay, some 200 kilometres away.

The lighthouse is fully automated. It is connected to the main supply and has a standby diesel generator. Picture: Supplied

“Maintenance visits are scheduled every three months, and teams spend up to a week on-site checking and servicing the optic and lantern house glazings, the tower, and the standby diesel engine.

“The area is world-renowned for its pristine beauty and wildlife. Maintenance teams remain on high alert for the potential risks posed by the resident crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and black mambas.

“Jesser Point is one of 44 operational lighthouses along the coast, from Port Nolloth in the west to Sodwana Bay in the east,” Miya said.

Jesser Point Lighthouse was first lit on the night of April 30, 1986. It produces four flashes every 40 seconds. Picture: Supplied

Miya said that TNPA is mandated by the National Ports Act, 2005 (Act No.12 of 2005) to provide, operate and maintain lighthouses and other marine Aids to Navigation (AtoNs) to assist the navigation of vessels within commercial port limits and along the coast of South Africa.

Miya added that a marine AtoN is defined as: “A device, system or service, external to vessels, designed and operated to enhance safe and efficient navigation of individual vessels and/or vessel traffic.”

This definition emanates from the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), the international body that sets the global standards, recommendations, and guidelines for marine AtoNs. South Africa, represented by TNPA, is a founding member of IALA and has been an elected council member since 1994, Miya explained.

It is situated along the KZN coast at Sodwana Bay within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. This protected area was listed as South Africa’s first World Heritage Site in December 1999. Picture: Supplied

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