POLOKWANE – Residents are up in arms over the closure of three public swimming pools in the city.
The public pools in Nirvana, Westenburg and in town were closed for the winter.
The town’s public swimming pools usually open on September 1 every year, but this year the pool did not open on the said date.
Residents say Polokwane has nothing to offer young people and the little joy they had was taken away.
“The pool keeps our children out of trouble and now that the pools are closed, our children have a lot of time on their hands to get up to mischief,” said an angry parent.
A mother from Westenburg said many children sat outside the Westenburg public swimming pool on September 1, waiting for the gates to open. “The disappointment on the children’s faces when they heard the pool was not opening was too much for me to bear.
“This is unacceptable and the municipality must pull up its socks, because this is poor service delivery,” said the mother.
Clayton Niekerk, a 16-year-old from Westenburg said he loved swimming and was very sad the pool was closed. “It is very disappointing that the pool is closed. I was counting down the days to the pool’s opening and now no one can tell us when the pool will open,” said Niekerk.
Matshidiso Mothapo, assistant communications manager of Polokwane Municipality, said the public swimming pools have not been opened as yet, because the pumps had to be replaced and the municipality did not receive the new pumps on time.
“The media that is responsible for filtration of the water also had to be changed to ensure the water is circulated properly and kept clean. However, the pumps have since been received and work is underway to replace them,” said Mothapo.
He added that the pumps were outdated and had to be replaced with new ones that would be able to perform at an optimum because use of the pools had increased drastically.
“Once the replacement had been completed, the swimming pools will be open for public use. It is unfortunate that the work started later than expected and the municipality apologises for the inconvenience.
“We appeal to patrons to be patient because we are working to ensure the swimming pools are accessible soon,” said Mothapo.
