WATCH: Empangeni town pool closed

There were many disappointed residents on Friday afternoon when Empangeni municipal swimming pool, after having turned green, was closed to the public.

Local swimming coach Sonja van Ryswyk, who was forced to cancel lessons last minute upon arriving at the pool just before 1pm from Richards Bay, confirmed the state of the water.

“We arrived there and the pool was closed. It wasn’t advertised anywhere that it was closed. We had to let all our customers know, and they take taxis to get there,” said Van Ryswyk.

“It is not swimmable. It’s green and unhealthy and if you swim now you will get sick,” said Empangeni resident Nikki Cox, who is training for the upcoming Midmar Mile.

uMhlathuze Ward 23 Councillor André de Lange said the state of the pool was reported on Wednesday and they were expecting it to be reopened on Saturday.

“It’s because of the December season with the high volume of people. There’s a lot that went through the filter and they had a blockage,” said De Lange.

“The team from Water and Sanitation is currently working on site,” said Zilindile Masango, uMhlathuze acting deputy municipal manager at Community Services on Friday afternoon.

“We are on track, the blockage has been resolved and backwashing is on track. The difference will be clearly noticeable before the end of Saturday,” said Masango.

“We will also look at a permanent solution,” he said.

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