‘No comment’ was the response from Umtshezi Municipality when questions about Hilldene Swimming Pool opening were posed. Expectant swimmers waited patiently to shrug off the cold and plunge into the swim season in October but they were sorely disappointed when both Hilldene and the Forderville swimming pool did not open as the beginning of the season.

A resident who expressed concern said that she called the municipality throughout the month of October to find out about any progress. “The only answer is…I don’t know,” commented the resident. “During November, on a daily basis a vehicle is parked there and the three times that I have been there, staff are present and the doors are locked. The municipality is obviously paying salaries, for what? Staff to do nothing?” asked the resident.

When she went to the pool to enquire, the resident was allegedly told that the repair process is unfinished.
“Apparently the same person is fixing the Forderville pool. How about using a more reliable contractor?” commented the resident. “It’s great that Estcourt has these wonderful facilities but what’s the point? Didn’t they think as far as using winter to prepare for the warmer November days? No! Doesn’t our town want the youth to make use of the recreational facilities that we have? Don’t they want the children of this town to be water friendly? Instead we sit back,” she added.

At last week’s council meeting Democratic Alliance PR Councillor LeRoy Gericke also raised concerns about Hilldene Swimming Pool delayed opening. He too asked why the repairs were not carried out before swim season began and called it ‘gross inefficiency’. The questions raised in this article have gone unanswered, as Umtshezi Acting Municipal Manager Hans Chotoo responded with a curt ‘no comment’ to a media inquiry.