With spring upon us and summer approaching, some of you may have been wondering if the city’s pools will be ready to reopen for the new seasons.
Traditionally, the City of Ekurhuleni’s public pools reopen on September 1 to coincide with the celebration of Spring Day in the region.
However, given the metro’s many failures over the past couple of years to get the pools ready for the warm seasons, some communities have previously expressed their growing despondence about trusting the city to live up to residents’ expectations.
On that account, this publication visited some of the pools and reached out to the metro for an update on the progress made in preparation for the expected reopening next month.
The answer is that, by the look of things, some of the pools look set to meet expectations, while others appear to be far from reopening their doors to the public.
The CoE also confirmed that some of its pools will reopen on September 3.
The following pools will be reopened:
Van Dyk Park Swimming Pool, Atlasville Swimming Pool, Reiger Park Swimming Pool, Daveyton Swimming Pool, Benoni North Swimming pool, Benoni Central Swimming Pool, Klopperpark Swimming Pool, Duduza Swimming Pool, Delville Swimming Pool, Alberton Swimming Pool, Eden Park Swimming Pool, Edenvale Swimming Pool, Birchleigh Swimming Pool, Brakpan Swimming Pool, Selection Park Swimming Pool, Faranani Swimming Pool, Etwatwa Swimming Pool and Klopper Park Swimming Pool.
Bad news for aquatic sports
The bad news for the local aquatic community is that the only heated indoor Olympic-sized pool in Gauteng (Boksburg North indoor swimming pool) will remain closed.
This is due to heat pumps and air conditioners inside the dome that still need to be repaired. The main pump leakage in the filter room still needs attention.
This facility failed to reopen last year in September and remained closed throughout the year, with the city citing budget constraints as the stumbling block.
It appears that, so far, no progress has been made in addressing the above-mentioned long-standing issues.
Van Dyk Park
The good news for residents of Van Dyk Park and surroundings is that the newly revamped Van Dyk Park Swimming Pool looks set to reopen next month after it failed to reopen last September and remained closed throughout the year.
The city had, in 2021, poured about R9m into a project to revamp the Van Dyk Park pool after it had remained closed for quite a while.
It was reopened, but its operation didn’t last long before the pumps were damaged by load-shedding power surges, according to the metro.
The pumps have been replaced, and further damage discovered on the supply of electricity to the pumps is receiving attention.
Vandalism claims
There are reports that thieves or vandals stripped equipment from the facility. However, according to metro spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, as far as they know there were no vandalism incidents at this facility.
“The perimeter wall is protected by security personnel. May it also be highlighted that the issue of infrastructure vandalism is indeed putting a strain on the finances of the municipality and generally reversing the development of the city in general.
“We need to work together with society to put an end to this.”
Projects
With regards to the preparations for reopening, Dlamini said most of the projects were completed during the off-season.
The work that goes into the preparations includes the replacement of new pumps at various pools, minor maintenance and repairs, draining, acid washing and refilling the swimming pools, gardening, and pruning of trees and flower beds.
The Vosloorus pool is undergoing repairs and maintenance, while Thokoza pool is receiving maintenance and installation of new paving.
Paving and building maintenance was done at Alra Park Swimming Pool.
Aside from all the above-identified issues, the Advertiser discovered last year that lifeguard shortages were a pressing issue for public swimming pools across the city. It’s still unclear if this has been addressed.
Also Read: Metro revisits council resolution on swimming pools
