Schauderville pool drowning in disrepair
Vandals strip 60-year-old facility despite efforts to save it
The Schauderville pool is in a sad state of disrepair as vagrants strip it brick by brick.
The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has also had to replace the gate of the facility three times, while metro security has refused to go to the pool without the police.
The sad state of affairs of the northern areas pool was revealed by sports and recreation director Charmaine Williams at a portfolio committee on Thursday.
The pool is also one of those that will not be opened during the festive season due to the drought.
Only 12 pools are set to be open from the start of December to the end of January.
Williams said the municipality could not open and fill all the pools with potable water due to water restrictions.
“The bulk of our pools are very old. We have pools, such as Trafalgar, that are older than 80 years.
“A lot of the pool infrastructure is crumbling. We’re going to need a big capital budget to repair the pools.
“The Schauderville pool is about 60 years old. I don’t feel good when I have to talk about that pool. It’s a very sad story and it’s disheartening,” Williams said.
She said the metro’s efforts to protect the pool included an electric fence and an alarm system, but these had not deterred the vandalism.
“We have replaced the front gate three times and have had constant burglaries.”
Williams, who was responding to a question by DA councillor Sharlene Davids, said residents were not prepared to identify the people who damaged the pool.
She said the New Brighton pool would not be opened as anticipated as it was still under construction.
“The water restrictions do not allow us to use potable water to fill the pools,” Williams said.
“We have been given an exemption to fill only the pools that are going to be operational during the two months.”
Williams said officials had also received an instruction to keep the pools covered to reduce the evaporation of water during the drought.
She said pool covers had already been procured.
ANC councillor Xola Sabani said the committee needed an update on the pools that had been visited as part of the committee’s oversight.
“We visited pools and found a lot of faults. Have these been attended to, what is the situation now and will the pools be ready by December 1?
“We don’t want a report that will impact negatively on the department,” Sabani said.
DA councillor Sebenzile Rafani asked if enough water was available to fill up the pools.
“We need to check if the pools have any leaks. Can we be updated if there will be water to fill the pools?”
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