The multiyear abandonment of the Boksburg North swimming pool which has left the facility derelict and at the mercy of vandals may soon come to an end, reports Boksburg Advertiser.

The breakthrough came from the Deputy Minister of Sports Arts and Culture Peace Mabe during the Team SA squad announcement at the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) House last week Wednesday (June 24).

Mabe was addressing the upcoming Common Wealth games while confronting a local crisis.

The Boksburg North facility which is the only heated indoor Olympic sized swimming pool in Gauteng is just one of 26 municipal pools in the East Rand shut down since last year.

Local authorities attribute the widespread closures to structural issues ranging from vandalism and theft to delayed refurbishments and backlogs in procuring pool supplies. The City of Ekurhuleni acknowledged that the overgrown grass surrounding the majority of these sites still needs attention.

Mabe addressed these infrastructure failures directly when questioned about transformation and the composition of the 112-member squad from 10 sporting codes chosen to represent South Africa. Athletics contributes the largest contingent with 25 athletes followed by swimming with 21.

While expressing satisfaction with the overall makeup of the squad Mabe raised sharp concerns about the swimming team demographics stating that poor maintenance of existing facilities is actively blocking transformation efforts.

“Yes quite happy. But not happy with swimming,” she said. “We need to be deliberate in ensuring that the infrastructure that has been built especially swimming infrastructure is resuscitated and properly maintained so that black South Africans also have access to quality swimming training. I have spoken to a few heads of federations here.”

Responding specifically to the neglect of the Boksburg North pool Mabe noted the facility was originally built to train competitive swimmers and blamed its decline on local government management failures.

“We spoke about that particular facility because when it was built its main objective was to get young people from previously disadvantaged backgrounds to train and prepare for the Olympics,” Mabe said. “When we build facilities we hand them over to the local government. In most cases local government does not have the capacity to maintain and protect these facilities.”

She suggested public private partnerships could provide a solution arguing that communities and sports federations should play a greater role in managing public recreation hubs.

“We are now in the process of reviewing how ownership of facilities is handed over. We want communities to take ownership because the current model where facilities are handed over to local government is not working. There are many factors involved including security and general maintenance.”

“We want to build facilities and hand them over to local sports federations or individuals who can properly manage and look after them. It is a growing concern not only in Ekurhuleni but across the country.”

Mabe added that she shared the deep frustrations of athletes whose development has been stifled by the vandalism and deterioration of sports facilities.

“We are equally disappointed. That is all I can say. We are equally disappointed. To those who have vandalised these facilities they gained nothing. But they have destroyed talent.”

Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel.

Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal.