The pool situation is hardly a great catastrophe, but to dismiss residents' anger is to ignore the fact that many people don't have pools at home.
Picture: iStock
Given that they’ve damaged or destroyed much of what used to make Joburg function as a “world-class African city”, it comes as no surprise that the municipality has decided to, effectively, postpone spring… by delaying the opening of public swimming pools for a month.
The people responsible for maintaining the pools have not been able to get their act together enough to have done the required off-season maintenance so that the facilities were able to reopen yesterday, Spring Day.
Possibly – and this is probably the reason – there wasn’t enough money in the kitty.
That’s because the metro is bankrupt, mainly because it has a bloated overpaid workforce and millions of residents won’t pay their dues for electricity and other municipal services.
Yet, even when a community is prepared to pitch in and get its area’s facilities sorted out, there is still a problem.
That’s what residents of Blairgowrie found after they had raised more than R1 million to restore their community pool – and its toilets and changing facilities – to their original pristine condition.
Can the pool open now?
No, says the council, because it doesn’t have a lifeguard.
Odd, considering there is one there at the moment… It doesn’t give anyone much cause for comfort that the man responsible for this circus is MMC for community development Thapelo Amad – a singularly ineffective mayor during the brief time he held that lofty office on behalf of his tiny party.
The pool situation is hardly a great catastrophe, but to dismiss the anger of residents over it is to ignore the fact that many people don’t have pools at home and that municipal facilities provide venues for much-needed relaxation and exercise.
Mind you, it does give us another colourful way of describing our leaders: They couldn’t organise a splash in a pool.
