OUR CITY NEWS: Joburg’s public pool crisis: Safety excuse masks years of neglect

{JSON.stringify(article.attachments[0], null, 2)} --> City blames safety compliance for postponing Johannesburg’s public swimming season to 1 October, while communities criticise staffing, maintenance failures and neglected pools across the city.

If you are planning to start your swimming season at a municipal pool this month, pack away the towels and the sunscreen. Pools will open only on 1 October.

Barely a day before the city’s municipal pools were supposed to open for the 2026/27 swimming season, the department of community development released a statement saying the season has been postponed to next month.

The reason: “To ensure that all municipal swimming facilities meet the strict health, safety, and operational standards required to provide a safe environment for the public.”

The statement from MMC for community development Thapelo Amad said the official opening of public swimming pools, originally scheduled for 1 September 2026, has been postponed to 1 October 2026.

He said the City had “adopted a phased reopening approach with 36 pools opening in October, recognising that the condition and operational requirements of facilities vary across regions.”

“The City is actively working to resolve outstanding compliance and maintenance tasks over the next month. We thank our residents for their patience and understanding as we work to ensure our recreational spaces are safe for everyone this summer,” Amad said.

There are 57 municipal pools spread across the city’s regions. Last year, only 35 opened on 1 September, with a further 18 supposed to open later in the swimming season. Eventually, 37 municipal pools were open just before the festive season.

Johannesburg has five heated pools: Ellis Park, Linden, Pimville, Pioneer Park and Coronationville. Ellis Park had mechanical issues with the heating last year, and Coronationville remained closed as the heating mechanism was not working.

Linden’s heaters only worked from April this year after the community put pressure on the council to fix them.

Ward councillor Hendrik Bodenstein said members of the community helped expedite the procurement.

“The bigger problem now is that the fuses and breakers on the pole are cheap knockoffs, because City Power ‘can’t afford the real deal’. This means that they keep popping and the pool needs all three phases to properly heat,” he said.

He said members of the community had approached him, willing to sponsor modern heat pumps instead of the old gas boilers they currently use at the pool, as well as solar installations to assist in offsetting the running costs. Bodenstein said there had been little response from City officials.

An extensive list of questions was sent to Community Development last week, asking how many pools the City manages, how many will be opening on 1 September, and how many will open later in the season. Questions about the operating budget (which provides for chemicals), trained lifeguards and entry fees were also sent. No response was forthcoming, except for the media statement on Monday.