Metro ‘to repair Hillcrest pool’ yet has no money

The Hillcrest municipal pool has temporarily suspended sporting activities as it attends to maintenance.

THE HILLCREST POOL CEASED OPERATIONS EARLIER THIS MONTH

The pool, on the corner of Duxbury Road and Jan Shoba Street, ceased operations on May 1 to attend to the much-needed refurbishments, such as heating faults and water leaks.

When Rekord visited the facility, it observed filthy green water.

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The closure of the facility has rubbed the users up the wrong way as at least 35 members of the public have reportedly been keen to still use the site during the current seasonal cold.

THE CLOSURE OF THE POOL HAS RUBBED THE USERS THE WRONG WAY

Users have questioned the competence of Tshwane, given its financial situation, after a cost-free donation was offered to repair the pool heating system.

Another maintenance required is aligned to a chlorine gas room, the heating system, and leaks.

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Genevieve Symonds, who has used the pool to coach swimming since January 2003, said the area was once a vibrant recreational facility with the community being involved in repairs, but this all came to a halt, and Metro started neglecting the facility.

‘THE AREA WAS ONCE A VIBRANT RECREATIONAL FACILITY’

She said reconditioning was neglected, and there were delays in processing bids for repair work.

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“Tenders are not renewed or advertised in good time, and this is simply a sign of incompetence.

“The entire swimming community has been affected. Municipal pools are often the place where children learn a love for swimming.”

Symonds ceased her operations at the pool in March last year.

She recalled that about 23 years ago, many coaches hired the pool for their work while the public would leisure around at the pool.

SYMONDS CEASED HER OPERATIONS AT THE POOL LAST YEAR

“The water was always warm. However, over time, the facility has not been looked after. The heaters generally broke at some stage during each winter but were usually fixed,” she said, adding that this was until 2018.

Symonds said since the Friends of Hillcrest was formed and small repair jobs such as painting, fixing the covers for winter, and putting new shower curtains and soap dispensers in the bathrooms were done.

“These jobs were completed with the blessing of the municipality.

“In March 2022, the heaters broke, and the municipality said it could not fix them because a tender had not been awarded.”

She said she was unpleased with the metro’s lack of service delivery, despite local businesses donating for the work.

“Two members of Friends of Hillcrest offered to fix the heaters for free. They assessed the state of the heaters and requested they remove parts to fix in a workshop, however, the municipality refused this generous donation.”

Herman van der Westhuizen’s company offered to attend to pool heaters.

MEMBERS OF THE FRIENDS OF HILLCREST OFFERED TO FIX THE HEATERS FOR FREE

“We made an offer to the municipality to fix the site free of cost as part of community service,” he said.

According to Van Der Westhuizen, the offer was met with unfruitful lengthy discussions.

“After all that, we were told that the refurbishments must be placed on a tender process.”

He said the repair work was not of a large magnitude and could be quickly resolved cost-free to the metro.

‘THE METRO DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO REPAIR AND MAINTAIN ITS NINE POOLS’

He added the metro had, however, appointed a contractor to attend to the repairs but did not have the money to do it.

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the metro did not have the money to repair and maintain its nine pools in Region 3.

He said the Hillcrest pool was temporarily closed, and it had remained open longer than the swimming season, which was until the end of April.

HE SAID THE HILLCREST POOL WAS TEMPORARILY CLOSED

“All other pools closed on April 10 at the end of the 2022/2023 swimming season.”

Mashigo said Tshwane’s regional operations and coordination department, however, had planned to undertake the major repair and maintenance work needed at the Hillcrest swimming pool depending on several factors such as maintenance needs, availability of budget, seasons, and other factors.

He said the last major service repairs to the pool were done in September 2021 and March 2020.

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Mashigo furthermore added the closure was to allow the appointed service provider to undertake the major repair and maintenance needed.

MAJOR SERVICE REPAIRS TO THE POOL WERE DONE IN SEPTEMBER 2021 AND MARCH 2020

“The pool will be closed until such time as the water can be heated to the required temperature for safe usage by clients. This is done in order to comply with the standard operating procedures for swimming pools.”

Mashigo said the filtration system, which was non-functional due to a huge leak on the main pipe, also needed to be repaired.

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