WATCH: Swimmers express disappointment over closed pools

Residents of Boksburg have expressed disappointment over the delayed reopening of the public swimming pools in Boksburg due to long-standing maintenance issues.

Usually, the city pools close for the winter season only to reopen on September 1, to coincide with Spring Day.
During the spring and summer, most public swimming pools in Ekurhuleni become community hubs, with families and school children flocking there to cool off.

The Boksburg Advertiser has established that out of the five pools in Boksburg, the Boksburg North indoor pool, Atlasville, Van Dyk Park, Reiger Park and Parkdene Swimming Pools, only the Reiger Park Swimming Pool managed to reopen so far. And no reopening date has been communicated for the rest.

Disappointed youth
A group of frustrated youngsters who spoke to this publication when they visited the Van Dyk Park Swimming Pool on September 5 said they were extremely disappointed to find their community pool closed on days when the sun is blazing.

They all appealed to the city to appoint competent people to sort out the problem so the community could enjoy their swimming pool again before the swimming season was over.

Last week, the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) announced that only 18 of its more than 30 swimming pools would reopen on September 1 as the region welcomes the new season.
To the surprise of swimmers, Boksburg North and the Atlasville pools are among the many city swimming pools that remain closed due to maintenance issues.

When this journalist visited the Boksburg North, Van Dyk Park and Parkdene Swimming Pools on September 5, staff confirmed the closure but did not provide details on what authorities are doing to address the problems. The city had not communicated whether it would do maintenance work on the two pools in question.

While the city has not yet confirmed the reasons for the closure of the Boksburg North pool, information gathered suggests the facility remains indefinitely closed over safety concerns. This was decided after an inspection ‘at the eleventh hour’ of the facility identified the pool needed maintenance.
The issues are said to be stemming from defective equipment, lack of pool cleaning material and inadequate maintenance, which has compromised the water quality.

While the facility was with warmer weather conditions, reportedly prepared to reopen despite the long-standing dysfunctional water heating system, the apparent poor water quality and fears of high bacteria levels in the water are keeping swimmers out of the water.

Staff at the pools pointed out that since September 1, the increasing temperatures reaching the highs of 29°C have been nudging children to the swimming pools after school.
Unfortunately, security personnel had no choice but to turn them away. The officers at the gate have the task of handling the looks of disappointment on the faces of the groups of children hoping the gates will be open for them to dip in the pools.

No space to practice
The delay in the opening of the indoor pool is not only a disappointment for Boksburg North residents but has a far-reaching impact on the entire city, as it leaves professional swimmers with no space to train in the pool.

Boksburg Aquatic Saints Swimming and Lifesaving Club said they too were disappointed at the delayed pool opening as they used the facility to practice.
“We practice there when the pool is nice and clean, but at the moment Boksburg North is an absolute disgrace. Children get sick from the water quality. The pool water is freezing and the pumps don’t work. It is awful,” said Veronique Beiling from the club.

“The grass has not been cut in years, while the parking lot is full of potholes. There is literally no nice picture of that pool at all.
“If Ekurhuleni could come to the party and fix it, the pool would be outstanding,” said Beiling.
The staff at this facility told this journalist an inspector and the HOD were seen taking a look at the facility this week.

Van Dyk Park swimming pool
Although the city had in 2021 spent about R9m on the refurbishment of the Van Dyk Park swimming pool, the facility was left to rot away for some time.
The city has not yet commented on the specifics of the closure, but workers told this journalist that there were some issues at the pool.

They pointed out these issues included damaged plumbing, lack of general regular maintenance and a working water treatment system.
The staff said the department had ample time to do inspections and attend to the issues between the end of the swimming season and September 1. To date, no remedial work is being carried out to ensure the facility gets to the required standard to reopen.

Decaying Parkdene Swimming Pool
The Advertiser visited the deserted facility on September 1 to find it has been completely closed for over six years and left at the mercy of vandals and thieves.
This publication was told the pool is among the city’s grandest swimming baths that lie abandoned and derelict after thieves had all the years before the appointment of a security service provider helped themselves to the equipment, including pipes and pumps.

Ward 32 Clr Marius de Vos said although he could understand the scale of the problems is quite large, he is disappointed with the delay in repairing the facility, adding that it is sad to watch a beautiful public amenity decaying like this.

“The Parkdene Swimming Pool never opened its doors after the 2017 summer season, to the extreme discomfort to the residents of the ward over the past six years.”
“The transfer of critical staff, including lifesavers, is the main contributing factor to the neglect and vandalism of the once prestigious swimming pool.
“I ran petitions through council in the previous term to draw the council’s attention to the neglect of the swimming pool, but to no avail.
“My last visit to the swimming pool in June this year has revealed shocking news. The entire pump was stolen with great ease because the facility was not guarded properly.
“I am urging the sports, heritage, recreation, and arts and culture department to pay equal attention to all swimming pools across the city regardless of the locality of the pool.”

PA takes matters into its own hands
Ward 34 Clr Edith Klassen pointed out the public pool in Reiger Park was ready to reopen after the Patriotic Alliance (PA), in partnership with local businesses and some community members, took matters into their own hands to repair the facility. This after it was closed for almost the entire previous swimming season.

“If not for our efforts, that facility would have been also among the closed pools. Boksburg would have been left without a working swimming pool.
“To ensure that our children have a safe space to escape the dangerous streets, and have a facility to cool off during the hot season, the PA mobilised the community to replace the broken pool pumps and pipes.
Klassen said they initially approached the municipality to address the problem but were repeatedly told ‘there is no money available’.

The terrible state of Atlasville swimming pool
Ward 23 Clr André du Plessis described the state of the Atlasville pool as ‘disgusting’ and lambasted the city for what he called year after year poor planning to reopen the community pools.

“Traditionally, pools are supposed to open on September 1, but I have been to the Atlasville pool and it is closed because there has been no maintenance done.
“About four months ago, I requested through our ward committee to have the grass cut, but the city did nothing until now that they are trying to cut the grass, following months of neglect.

“The water seems to have chlorine as it looks quite clear, but at the bottom of the pool, you see the paint is flaking off. There is a water leak detected at the inlet on the paving,
“I spoke to the sports, heritage, recreation, and arts and culture department and they told me they are waiting for the appointment of seasonal lifeguards.

“The City of Ekurhuleni in their wisdom has not even appointed the seasonal lifeguards yet. This is how useless they are. Where is this HOD, why is he not doing his job, and why is the city manager not doing her job to ensure that seasonal lifeguards are appointed in time for the pools to open?
“They have to now go through a lengthy process of appointing seasonal lifeguards.

“Nobody can give the community an answer on when they will reopen this pool.
“This is unacceptable. It shows you that Ekurhuleni has incompetent people who cannot plan properly. Both this department and the real estate are in complete shambles, without the right equipment to do their job. The entire city is in a state of collapse.”

Du Plessis vowed to take this up with the relevant authorities in the departments.
Residents said the city should have at least communicated with them about maintenance work needed at the facilities and taken steps to ensure that it was open as soon as possible.

The metro has not yet responded to our request for comment.

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