As nearly 100 fed-up swimmers and residents in Lenasia vented their frustration on Saturday morning outside the Greyville municipal pool in Johannesburg, children seeking respite from the Gauteng heatwave arrived in a minibus not realising it had been shut for almost two months.
The children had come from nearby Thembelihle informal settlement, having paid for transport, packed food and entry fees, but in the end they were taken to Eldorado Park in Soweto, which demonstrators said had only two functioning pools out of eight in the city’s Region G.
The area comprises 16 wards in the south of the city and has a population of more than 700,000.
Something happens, we raise our voices and then something breaks
— Ziyaad Bohardien, Atlantis Swimming Club chair
Three pools in Lenasia, a fourth in Lenasia South, one in Ennerdale and another in Orange Farm were all closed, some of them for years, added demonstrators.
Greyville is home to the Atlantis Swimming Club, which not only has about 70 members but also teaches about 600 young pupils from two local primary schools to swim.
The club’s head coach, Julie Cassim, said about 30 of her swimmers were training at a local gym, but that wasn’t ideal because lanes were clogged and the water was too hot.
“If we don’t have a pool to train in by January we’re in trouble,” she said.
Grade 10 pupil Alleclaytheo Gibbs, who was selected to attend a training camp in Italy in October, recently qualified in the 50m breaststroke for the 2025 senior national championships in Gqeberha.
Atlantis club executive members said they had a conflictual relationship with Greyville pool staff for years and added they had often paid to repair broken motors, pumps, wiring and other equipment, spending an estimated R250,000 over the past four years.
But there were persistent problems.
The pool was closed from May to August despite the club paying more than R8,000 in season tickets for the swimmers, said Cassim.
They asked for a rebate to fund their summer season tickets but were locked out.
Club chair Ziyaad Bohardien said phone calls were made to senior municipal staff before they were admitted.
Two days later a pump broke.
“Something happens, we raise our voices and then something breaks,” said Bohardien.
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One placard at the protest read: “Investigate the damage ... It may be deliberate.”
A pool security guard filmed the vociferous but peaceful protesters with his phone from behind a locked gate.
Bohardien e-mailed a list of grievances to officials, citing lack of maintenance among other things.
The Johannesburg City Council didn’t respond to e-mailed requests for comment.
Greyville was where swimmers were hospitalised after staff poured acid and chlorine into the pool during training in 2022.
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