Pretoria - The campaign to pressure the City of Tshwane to keep Hillcrest swimming pool open is gathering momentum.
This comes after close to 2 000 residents signed an online petition demanding the reopening of the historic public facility with immediate effect.
City spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the pool was temporarily closed and that unlike other pools it remained open longer than the swimming season, which was until the end of April, for training purposes.
“All other pools closed on April 10, 2023, at the end of the 2022/2023 swimming season,” he said.
The pool, he said, would be closed until such time as the water could be heated to the required temperature for safe usage by clients.
“This is done in order to comply with the standard operating procedures for swimming pools. Another factor that led to the closure was the filtration system that could also not function optimally due to a huge leak on the main pipe,” he said.
But, petitioners who want the city to keep the iconic pool functioning, bemoaned its closure, saying: “Many olympians and national champions have trained here every day and built their swimming careers by competing in competitions hosted at this pool.”
According to them, lack of funds to perform maintenance has resulted in the pool being “closed indefinitely”.
They expressed worry that the pool closure would have a negative impact on residents who could not afford the fees of gyms and private pools.
Some people, they said, might want to learn to swim; train for various galas, open water events and/or triathlons; keep fit and obtain qualifications for jobs in the navy, police or airlines.
By noon yesterday, at least 1 874 signatures were recorded on the online petition.
One of the petitioners, Sue Peterkin, said: “This is the pool where I do my swim training all year round. The facility has been sorely neglected and has been on a downwards spiral for many years now.
“Swimming is an important life skill which our children should learn at a young age, and obviously Hillcrest is integral to that. Pretoria residents should have access to a clean, well-maintained pool in a safe environment with friendly and helpful staff.”
Another, Lerisa Roberts, said: “My children are registered SA Swimming swimmers. Our galas are held at Hillcrest swimming pool. This is where they qualify for the respective galas, such as SA National Juniors. Our inter-primary and inter-high school galas are also held at Hillcrest Swimming Pool. Please save the pool. This is a much-needed facility.”
Minétte Teessen, who was training for a cold open-water event in Langebaan, said: “As a cold-water swimmer from Gauteng, I always find it difficult to get hold of a 50m (to train for distance) and cold-water pool (to acclimatise in) to train in during the winter. I am not alone.”
Mashigo said the closure of the swimming pool was required to address the major repair and maintenance needs through one of the appointed service providers.
“The major repairs and maintenance work include attending to all leaks. The last major service was done during March 2020,” Mashigo said.
Pretoria News