Another summer will pass without the City of Joburg implementing legislation forcing private pool owners to restrict and safeguard their pool areas with safety nets, high fences and pool alarms.
In a week when one child drowned in Joburg, and another nearly did, emergency services are concerned that many of the more than half a million pools in Gauteng will be left unprotected.
In the latest incident, two-year-old Thabo Mpople was found dead at the bottom of the swimming spool at his parents' Alberton home on Wednesday.
Last weekend, a three-year-old Sandton girl was hospitalised in a critical condition after nearly drowning at her family's pool.
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She was found floating in the swimming pool last Saturday afternoon. It remains unclear how she got into the pool or how long she had been in the water before she was found.
At least three more water-related incidents involving three-year-olds have been reported in Durban and the Eastern Cape.
Drowning is the second highest cause of accidental death among children under the age of 15 in South Africa.
In Joburg, current residential pool requirements stipulate only that the pool needs to have restricted access.
The new proposed bylaw, however, suggests that all of Joburg's existing pool owners and those who plan to install pools would have to apply to the council for a permit.
The permit would be granted only if there was a 1.2m-high wall or fence around the pool that has a gate with a self-locking or self-closing device.
When not in use, the pool would have to be covered with a cover or be fitted with a floating pool alarm.
Indoor pools must be fitted with a floor glide system and be fitted with a floating alarm.
Earlier this year, members of the public were urged to comment on the proposed legislation.
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