People in Ladysmith are up-in-arms about a pool that has cost Alfred Duma Local Municipality R3 million to build. The pool is in Ezakheni C-Section (Ward 1) next to a primary school and is available for the community to use.
However, local taxpayers are upset, as they feel their money is going to waste instead of being used to fix up our town. The Municipal Budget & Treasury Department confirmed that an amount of R3 million was budgeted and spent on this project. Ward Councillor S Vilakazi confirmed that the project is complete and operational.
The R3-million swimming pool in Ezakheni has two lifeguards and security guards.
Change rooms are available as well. According to the municipality, the pool is open and accessible to the public from Monday to Sunday, except on Thursdays when the pool is closed for general maintenance and cleaning of the area and pool.
Ezakheni resident Sipho Madlala tells us that he occasionally uses the pool over weekends, but that not many people use the pool on weekdays due to school. “Over weekends, me and my friends enjoy the pool,” says Madlala.
When a Ladysmith Gazette journalist visited the pool on Monday afternoon (September 2), it was closed and the journalist was told that maintenance was being conducted.
Also read: Over R2 million allocated by uThukela to help communities with water and sanitation
It is alleged that another pool was set to be built in the same area, but it was not completed by the municipality, as it is believed that underground problems forced construction of the pool to be halted.
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