Tshwane’s municipal pools are still not open, despite the city's promises.
A former SA Navy chief, a former mayor and an activist went to the Hillcrest swimming pool in Pretoria on the first day of spring to take a swim, but were instead stopped in their tracks because the pool wasn’t ready.
Yesterday, DA mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink and two others were told it was too dangerous to get into the swimming pool.
Unsafe chlorine levels stop swimmers
As soon as Brink, DA member and activist JP Verster and former SA Navy chief rear admiral Rusty Higgs tried to get into the pool, a man appeared out of nowhere and stopped them, saying the amount of chlorine in the pool would burn them.
“You will burn; we have had people in the hospital. This is not acceptable. We are busy getting the pool ready to reopen it,” the man said before disappearing.
Brink said pools were initially closed in 2024 as a temporary measure during water shortages.
“The closure has become permanent. The city has not given a cogent explanation for keeping all the municipal pools closed for such a prolonged period. No other metro has taken such an approach,” he said.
Brink said even during the height of the day zero risk, the City of Cape Town kept a number of its municipal pools open, while closing others.
ALSO READ: Tshwane delays reopening of public pools ‘due to unforeseen challenges’
Impact on swimming galas and local businesses
“The permanent closure of Tshwane pools has meant that residents who don’t have access to private gyms have been left high and dry,” he said.
“The closures have kept professional and school-level swimming galas from being hosted in the city, swim coaches from running their businesses and deprived ordinary residents of a municipal facility for which they pay rates and taxes.
“We want to know when the swimming pools will be reopened and we will bring a motion in council to keep the city from closing all the pools again.”
‘We need to shake ourselves up’
Former SA Navy chief of staff under the Thabo Mbeki administration, Higgs, said it was important to be able to swim.
“I am not in politics; I belong to the church and military, but we need to shake ourselves up and get serious about sorting our new generation and meeting our responsibilities,” he said.
“Imagine passing a river and you see a child drowning and you walk past because you can’t swim. It is our responsibility to ensure that the next generation can swim. It is one of the most important skills you can teach a child and is a matter of survival.”
A member of the public, Yvonne Jakobs, who has three children who swam Northern Tigers Swimming championships, said they weren’t able to work on their long-course times because the pool was closed.
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