Will Van Riebeeck be ready?
With the 2013 swimming season less than a fortnight away, the question remains as to whether the facility will be ready in time.
NELSPRUIT – The city’s bid to host the 2015 Level 1 Junior National Swimming Championships will have to retracted. This is according to Swimming Mpumalanga chairperson, Emile van Veenhuysen. According to him the swimming pool will not be ready in time to host an event of such magnitude as the original agreement four months ago was not kept by Mbombela Council’s Project Manager mr Prince Ribombo and the team.
During a meeting held in February, attended by Mbombela Mayor Cathy Dlamini, Van Veenhuysen and Ribombo, a three phase plan for the total upgrade of the Van Riebeeck facility was revealed. Lowvelder was also present at the time. Following suggestions from Mpumalanga Swimming, it was agreed by the project manager and all present to replace the roof with a similar structure which would save an estimated R3 million and cut the estimated completion time by months.
“If we want a national standard swimming facility we need to make sure that we have national standard buildings that we can all be proud of,” – Cathy Dlamini, Executive Mayor Mbombela Municipality
Ribombo agreed that the plans for the first phase of the upgrade would be amended to include a total revamp of the changeroom facilities including the rotting roof and all sanitaryware.
The cost of the project was estimated in the region of R12 million and it was proposed that it be divided into three phases over the next three years.
Despite what was agreed at the meeting, Ribombo has not made good on any of the points he agreed upon. The roof covering both changerooms has not been replaced, neither has any work been done of the sanitaryware or the broken benches. The walkway around the pool remains unchanged and nothing has been done about the broken windows.
Furthermore, a source has revealed that Ribombo made it clear that no further money would be allocated to the Van Riebeeck pool as he was of the opinion that enough had been spent. “So what about the three year, three phase plan?”
Ribombo could not be reached for comment.
The source also stated that plans were revealed recently for a R27 million swimming pool facility to be built, by council, in Hazyview. The source alleged that land had already been identified for this facility. The spokesperson for Mbombela Local Municipality, Joseph Ngala could not be reached for comment on the allegation.
“Right now, as it stands, the new entrance and admin block look stunning and is a marked improvement from what it was, but nothing has been done to fix the real problem – the rotting roof trusses and leaking changeroom facilities. And, will it be in time for the Tri-Nations gala scheduled for 21 September?”
The Tri-Nations is a massive annual international event and includes swimmers from Mozambique, Angola, Swaziland and Botswana. The event consists of three legs, one of which was to be held at Van Riebeeck Park. The event attracts thousands of swimmers and enthusiasts and generates a massive amount of income to the local businesses and municipality. With the swimming pool still empty as a grouting team battles to meet deadline, swimming associations are all on the edge of their seats.
“Swimming South Africa agreed earlier this year, to give Mpumalanga a chance to host big national events,” said Van Veenhuysen, “but Im afraid that with all the confusion regarding this project, we will have to retract our bid to host the Nationals in 2015 or risk looking like absolute incompetent fools.”
