Cape Town - With the school holidays in full swing and the summer heat unescapable, Athlone residents, and in particular young children, have decried the closure of and delay in the reopening of the Athlone swimming pool.
Dozens of children held a protest organised by the Bridgetown Community Development Forum (BCDF) on Friday, following notable community lament over the prolonged closure of the pool which was scheduled to reopen on November 17 for the holiday season.
BCDF community liaison officer Nazeem Felander said the children were from Kewtown, Silvertown and Bridgetown.
“The Athlone pool was closed for the whole Covid-19 period so any upgrades, repairs or refurbishment could’ve been done in the Covid period. And then after Covid-19, it was opened for plus/minus six months and then it was closed in February, which was 11 months ago, for them to do whatever they needed to do.”
In its memorandum of demands, the BCDF requested information on when the contractor was employed and when official work commenced on repairs.
In late October, the City said that its Recreation and Parks Department would open 24 community swimming pools in stages between November and mid-December.
From December 11, the swimming pools would operate daily for the holiday season. The Athlone swimming pool was scheduled to open on November 17 but remained closed due to disrepair.
Ward councillor Rashid Adams said: “There were problems at this pool which prevented them from opening, including the pumps that were not working properly.
“There was also a challenge that when they were busy fixing one aspect something else went wrong and then the plate at the bottom went rusty and they had to replace that so it was more than one issue.
“Also, the clarity of the water was a problem and that was because of sand and glass coming through the pumps and that was a serious concern.”
He associated the delay in reopening to “major” challenges being faced as they related to tender processes.
National Coloured Congress (NCC) provincial secretary Paul Bester said that there was a lack of planning and support from the City in opening the pools.
“If you go to Sea Point swimming pools, it’s open basically the whole year. If you go to the baths under the Strand pavilion, those baths are opened nearly 365 days a year.
“It’s the same City that runs these facilities, so why is it that the community of the Cape Flats is not allowed to spend time in swimming pools paid for by us as the ratepayer?” Bester said.
Maintaining swimming pools and sporting facilities within communities rife with violence and drug abuse would provide children with a safe space and prevent them from being exposed to these, allowing children to be children, he said.
“It cannot be that these facilities are standing around (empty) the whole year. That pool has been there for years. It just needs to be maintained and the DA is not doing that.
“And I’m saying the DA because this is a DA-led city and their money goes to different places and it’s not going where it is needed.”
Mayco member for Community Services and Health Patricia van der Ross said that final testing was conducted yesterday and that the pool was scheduled to open today once testing is complete and no complications have been picked up.