OUR CITY NEWS: Joburg’s public pools crisis — delays, neglect and empty promises during the summer heatwave

A month and a half into swimming season, only 20 of Johannesburg’s 57 municipal pools are open, while only another 13 are expected to reopen this week.

The City of Johannesburg initially said 36 pools would be open from 1 October, following delays due to “compliance and maintenance issues” that prevented pools from opening on 1 September, the traditional start of the summer swimming season.

In a statement on 1 October, it announced there would be a “phased reopening” of 35 facilities (one fewer than promised in August), starting with an initial group of 15 pools.

But only 13 pools opened on 7 October, with Community Development MMC Thapelo Amad saying they had lifeguards on standby: Linden, Blairgowrie, Florida Lake, Jabulani (new pool), Orlando, Pimville, Meadowlands, Zoo Lake, Pioneer Park, Rhodes Park, Lenasia South, Eldorado Park Ext 3 and Lenasia Ext 2.

Seven more have since opened: Rabie Ridge, Verity Park, Roosevelt Park, Davidsonville, Noordgesig, Paterson Park and Eldorado Park Ext 4.

Linden and Pimville are heated pools that are supposed to be open all year round.

Amad said the City would continue to monitor the readiness of all swimming pool facilities and provide further updates as additional pools become operational. However, there is no time frame for the opening of the remainder of the pools.

“With most major hurdles substantially resolved, the City’s focus has shifted towards maximising operational capacity, sustaining uninterrupted operations, maintaining safety standards and ensuring reliable service delivery ahead of the peak swimming season in November and December,” he said.

GroundUp reported that tenders for pool chemicals closed only in mid-September, even though the pools were supposed to open at the beginning of that month.

There have also been delays in appointing staff. Adverts in June set a new minimum educational requirement of Grade 12, which excluded many former staff members. The positions were readvertised at the beginning of September without the requirement.

Amad said the City’s phased-in approach of reopening swimming pools was working “and we anticipate opening 13 additional swimming pools by Monday 19 October, bringing the total to 33”.

While pools don’t open on Mondays, those that should be opening this week are Dobsonville, Jabavu, Diepkloof, Power Park, Senaone, Sydenham, East Bank, Turffontein, Forest Hill, Crown Gardens, Yeoville, Malvern and Lenasia Ext 10.

Amad said a bulk chemical delivery on 13 October, the planned completion of seasonal lifeguard hiring, and ongoing maintenance had accelerated pool reopenings. He added that 140 lifeguards and 40 cashiers had already been deployed.

He identified problematic pools as Roodepoort – where the substation serving the pool is faulty – and Florida North, where a burned-out circuit breaker and related electrical cable theft had delayed the opening.