WHILE several municipal pools have been closed for repairs in recent years, spokesperson for the eThekwini Municipality Msawake Mayisela said more than 50% of pools are now open.
“Out of 52 pools, the City has managed to re-open thirty swimming pools,” said Mayisela.
One such pool is Tesoriere Pool on Acton Road in Umbilo. After ongoing repairs, the pool is open ahead of the summer months. Ward 33 councillor Sakhile Mngadi said repairs to the pool were completed in March, and the pool was reopened shortly thereafter. This was after two years of repair work. In September 2019, Berea Mail reported that the pool was closed for repair work to fix broken tiles. In February 2021, repair work was ongoing, and the deadline had been extended.
ALSO READ:Deadline extended on Umbilo pool repairs
“The pool was drained for repair work. It was still empty at the beginning of this year. I believe there was a leak, and some tiles needed to be replaced,” said Mngadi.
The pool is now up and running and is one of the better pools in the municipality, although the changerooms are due for an upgrade.
“This facility is above and beyond what I’ve seen at other pools in the city. This is one of the better-managed pools,” he said.
Mngadi added that a portion of the capital infrastructure budget for Ward 33 would be allocated to completing Tesoriere Pool repairs.
ALSO READ: eThekwini Municipality’s grass-cutting cycle begins
“I’ve asked that a portion of the budget be used to upgrade the changerooms, which should then complete the upgrade for this facility,” he said, “I know there are issues in the changerooms as the facility was empty for two years.”
With warmer weather on the way, here is a list of pools open to the public in Berea:
Open pools
Tesoriere Pool on Acton Road in Umbilo and Sutton Park Pool on Sutton Crescent in Windermere are open from 09:30 until 16:30, from Monday to Friday, and from 09:00 until 16:30 on Saturday and Sunday. Kings Park Complex on Masabalala Yengwa Avenue in central Durban is open from 06:00 to17:30 from Monday to Friday; 06:00 to16:30 on Saturday, and 09:00 to 16:30 on Sunday.
Closed Pools
Rachel Finlayson Swimming Pool at North Beach remains closed. The pool is undergoing repairs.