GROUNDUP: Joburg fails to open public swimming pools — again

Eleven-year-old Nkululeko from Yeoville walked for more than an hour to get to the Zoo Lake swimming pool in Parkview, the closest public pool to him that was open.

On the hot Friday afternoon last week, he and his friends spent the morning going from pool to pool to find one to cool off. The Yeoville pool was closed, as were several others.

Zoo Lake is one of the few of the City’s 57 pools that are open. On 1 September, the start of the swimming season, 36 pools were supposed to open. But in late August, community development mayoral committee member Thapelo Amad postponed the opening by a month, promising a “phased reopening” of the swimming pools from 1 October.

Then in a statement on 1 October, the City said there would now be a “phased reopening” of 35 facilities (one fewer than promised in August), starting with an initial group of 15 pools.

GroundUp reported in March that only 32 of the 57 pools were confirmed open for the 2025/26 season.

The City did not respond to questions about how many pools have been opened to date.

The City’s statement blamed delays in repairs and maintenance, a shortage of water treatment chemicals and recruitment delays.

Tenders for chemicals seem to have closed only in mid-September, even though the pools were supposed to open at the beginning of that month.

There have also been delays in appointing staff. Adverts in June set a new minimum requirement of Grade 12, which excluded many former staff members. The positions were readvertised at the beginning of September without the requirement.

Two new swimming pools are still not open: Ivory Park, which cost about R43-million and was completed in 2023; Cosmo City, which cost about R11.8-million in 2024/25 and is still not complete.

Mayor Dada Morero recently told residents that the Ivory Park pool would open before 4 November. But neither Ivory Park nor Cosmo City is on the list of 15 pools that will be opened in the first phase.

Across the city, pools have deteriorated and the number of visitors to the city’s pools has fallen from 620,000 in 2022/23 to 406,000 in 2024/25.

DA shadow mayoral committee member for community development Lyrics Mazibuko called the delays a “failure of planning and preparation” for a predictable seasonal duty.

Rise Mzansi’s Malik Dasoo, who has done community work at a public pool in Parkview that is now open, said wealthy residents lose little because they have private pools, while most Joburgers “lose their only option”.

Residents keep pools going

Community activism has kept a few public pools open and in relatively good condition. Residents have pressured and negotiated with the City, raised funds and volunteered.

Parkview resident Tessa Abramovitz helped form the nonprofit organisation Friends of Zoo Lake Pool in 2025. Its aim was to restore the historic facility, first opened in 1928, to its former glory. Apart from cosmetic problems, the pool had ageing inlet and outlet pipes that caused leaks and water loss.

The City appointed contractors and supplied replacement pipes. The organisation raised R66,000 to re-grout the children’s pool, replace tiles, fix piping, upgrade toilets and pay for chemicals. The pool reopened on 14 September.

“A public pool means far more to the community than we think,” Abramovitz told GroundUp. “It’s where people learn the survival skills of swimming, take care of their physical and mental health, and break down barriers to make community.”

The government’s 2011 White Paper on sport and recreation calls public pools a powerful social connector. The City’s community development department describes them as “affordable recreation and safe spaces for children, young people and communities”.

Pools are also an important source of jobs. They employ cashiers, maintenance workers, lifeguards and other staff.

Last week, we met Vava Nyalti, who has worked informally as a car guard at the Zoo Lake pool for 18 years. Nyalti said he also helps maintain the outside of the pool area. He relies on tips.

“When it is not open, I get nothing,” he said.

The Blairgowrie pool, which had deteriorated badly, was also recently renovated by the Blairgowrie Community Association.

“People often say, ‘I pay my rates and taxes so why should I do anything for the pool?’ Well, there is still a community that wants to swim at the end of the day. We can either complain or do something about it,” said Abramovitz. DM