Johannesburg public swimming pools to shut their doors

Johannesburg residents looking to escape the summer heat at their local public swimming pools will have to make alternative plans, with the municipality announcing another widespread closure.

The City of Johannesburg has decided to shut all its public swimming pools from Monday, 16 November, until further notice because of a critical shortage of chlorine.

The announcement comes as temperatures are expected to reach the 30s this weekend, with the South African Weather Service forecasting a hotter-than-average summer.

The municipality’s Department of Community Development acknowledged that the decision would cause frustration among residents, particularly families and young people who rely on public swimming facilities during the warmer months.

However, it warned that operating swimming pools without the necessary chemicals could expose swimmers to health risks.

Emergency procurement to secure SWIMMING pool chemicals

According to reports, the department said it had activated emergency procurement protocols to purchase chlorine and other essential swimming pool chemicals.

Some of the city’s most affected swimming pools could close even before the official Monday shutdown date.

According to the department, technical teams will begin work to restore the facilities as soon as chemical supplies are replenished.

Acting director of community development Mbulelo Bezu acknowledged the importance of public swimming pools during summer but said the municipality could not compromise on residents’ health and safety.

“We know how vital our public pools are to families and young people trying to beat the heat right now, and we share the community’s disappointment.

“However, the health and safety of our residents must always come first. Operating unchlorinated pools is unsafe, so we made the difficult decision to close the facilities while we urgently resolve this supply chain disruption,” said Bezu.

The municipality has not provided a projected reopening date.

Bezu said the city anticipated reopening the pools once the procurement process was complete and would provide daily progress updates until the facilities could welcome swimmers again.

Another setback after delayed summer reopening

The latest closure comes after Johannesburg’s public swimming pools already experienced significant delays in reopening for the summer season.

The municipality initially planned to reopen its public pools on 1 September, before missing that deadline and subsequently failing to meet a revised 1 October target.

Only a selection of facilities reopened in mid-October, with the municipality previously citing shortages of chemicals and insufficient lifeguards and cashiers as reasons for the delays.

In October, at least 3 750kg of swimming pool chemicals were sourced to facilitate the reopening of 26 of Johannesburg’s 57 public swimming pools.

The city also needed to recruit or secure the services of 160 lifeguards and 40 additional cashiers to ensure that the facilities were adequately staffed.

However, the latest chlorine shortage means residents will once again lose access to the facilities just weeks after some of them reopened.