The Zoo Lake Municipal Swimming Pool
Last Sunday, when it was blisteringly hot, I took my 4-year-old son to swim at the Zoo Lake municipal swimming pool. To our disappointment, when we arrived we discovered that we would not be taking a cool dip in the pool after all because it was bright green and swimming with algae.
I was incensed; there were young children expectantly waiting to swim who were not allowed to because the pool was filthy. I decided to tackle the disgraceful state of the pool on my show “The Laws of Life” on cliffcentral.com.
After spending Monday morning on the phone to Joburg City Council to determine the cause of the problem, I predictably got nowhere.
This is an absolute disgrace.
The editor of this paper, Megan Mclean spoke to the ward councillor and it seems as though the pool is in this state because the council has not paid the chlorine supplier. Therfore, no chemicals have been delivered to the pool. I would like to point out that the staff at the Zoo Lake pool have been trying all they can to keep the pool clean, but without chemicals this has proved an impossible task.
According to the City of Johannesburg metropolitan municipality public health by-laws, the City of Joburg is responsible for keeping the pool “ in a safe, clean and sanitary condition at all times and ensuring that the swimming pool water is purified, treated and maintained to an adequate quality at all times.”
Further, as per regulation 74, the council, as the owner of the pool, must ensure the water in the pool is “free from floating, suspended or settled debris or swimming organisms and the walls, floor, access ladders or steps and gutters must be free from slime and algae.”
Clearly, the council is contravening its own by-laws.
Now, in terms of by-law 148, any person, and this includes an organ of state which the municipality qualifies as, “who contravenes or fails to comply with any provisions of these by-laws is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or in default of payment to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months.”
So, should we demand the council to fine itself? Or imprison itself? For sure. I have written to the council demanding that it comply with its legal obligations to clean up its pool, failing which I will bring an application to court to compel it to comply with its own by-laws.
Court applications for chlorine? You better believe it!
Garry is also the host of The Laws of Life on cliffcentral.com
