The public swimming pool in Retreat, Cape Town. (Photo: City of Cape Town)
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Residents demand that the public swimming pools be open seven days a week.
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They say it keeps kids off the streets and serves senior clubs.
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The city says budget constraints make it impossible to keep pools open seven days a week.
Deur Matthew Hirsch, GroundUp
Armed with swimming goggles, swimming caps and beach towels with placards that read, among other things: “restore access to community swimming pools seven days a week” and “fund our swimming pools”, this week residents marched to the City of Cape Town’s Waal Street office to discuss the city’s proposed budget for the 2026/2027 financial year.
GroundUp reported in January that the city reversed its decision to close most pools during the week after massive community outcry in the form of letters, petitions and even threats of protests.
Community pools are currently closed for the winter, except for the indoor pools at Retreat, Blue Downs, Langstraat and Strand, as well as the Seepunt pool, which is open all year round.
Residents say swimming pools are an “affordable and safe” way to keep their children off the streets, while senior clubs also like to use them.
Rafiqua Mosaval, who has been a member of a swimming club at the Trafalgar pool in Woodstock for years, said at the meeting “swimming saved our lives. Swimming also leads to other skills. All we want to do is swim and teach. We plow back.”
She claims the city’s pool policy is being applied “unfairly”.
“This is not just a recreational issue. It is a health issue,” said Ute Kuhlmann of the Woodstock residents’ association. She asked that swimming pools be open every day in the summer.
Kuhlmann asked that the breakdown of the city’s operating budget for swimming pools be made public.
“We have taken note of the budget allocated for repairs in the new year and we are going to contest any closures, in addition to those mentioned,” said Chloé van Biljon, who represented several organisations.
A petition in which people ask that swimming pools be open every day in the summer has obtained more than 600 signatures, Van Biljon said at the meeting.
She says many of the people in the council who make decisions about budgets for swimming pools “have a swimming pool in their own garden… This is not the case for the communities where the (public) swimming pools are located”.
However, mayoral committee member for community services and health Francine Higham said it was not viable for all 36 of the city’s swimming pools to be open seven days a week due to budget constraints.
Children learn to swim at the Hanover Park swimming pool in Cape Town. (Photo: City of Cape Town)
The extension of operations from Wednesday to Saturday between January and April this year cost the city an additional R18 million due to the need for additional staff. This includes lifeguards, entry officers and cashiers. This brings the total annual operating costs for the management of the facilities to approximately R65 million.
“We have to finely balance the operating costs of the many community facilities we manage, as well as parks, sports fields, cemeteries and civic centres.
“Demand for public swimming pools falls significantly in the cooler months, with the highest demand usually confined to summer and school holidays. In light of this, it is not an efficient use of limited resources to keep all swimming pools open at all times when demand is low.
“The extended operating hours form part of a test project. The usage data collected during that period is being reviewed and where there is a clear demand, the possibility of extended hours will be considered,” said Higham.
The city spent more than R150 million on repairs and maintenance and another R68 million in capital expenditure to renovate and improve swimming pool facilities.
Higham assured residents at the meeting that repairs were being made to six swimming pools.
- This reported was originally posted on GroundUp and is used with permission.
