For the first time in more than four years, this Spring Day will see the once-popular public pool in Blairgowrie, Johannesburg, open to swimmers.
With newly painted colourful walls, bright lane markers and freshly resurfaced, the sparkling pool will be back in operation — complete with floodlights and newly finished changerooms.
While other public pools stand vandalised or closed because of technical problems, Blairgowrie’s pool is a first-of-its-kind success story, resulting from a joint partnership among the community, the local councillor and City of Johannesburg officials.
“We realised that even though we are paying more rates and taxes than ever before, the pool was never going to reopen,” said Harold Fleishman of the Blairgowrie Community Association (BCA).
The city has no money ... so we realised if we wanted anything done, we’d have to do it ourselves.
— Harold Fleishman, Blairgowrie Community Association
“The city has no money available. Where it has been spent is another story altogether, but we realised that if we wanted anything done, we’d have to do it ourselves.”
The refurbishing of what had become a hunky white elephant began as the vision of councillor Lucinda Harman, who took office in August 2023 and this year came up with “Re-imagine Randburg”, aimed to uplift the area through public-private partnerships. It’s a designed effort to overcome the shortcomings of the City of Johannesburg that has failed to maintain suburbs and constantly pleads budget constraints.
Her first target was the Rattray Weir in Delta Park — a spot along the Braamfontein Spruit that had become popular for water rituals and animal sacrifices. “Sangomas turned the area into a business — doing many ceremonies a day, charging between R750 and R2,000 for a ceremony to get you pregnant, or married, or make you rich. They were busing people in, and it was madness. Residents were complaining about the noise and disruptions, dead animals and all the culling that was taking place,” Harman told The Sunday Times.
She joined up with the 10-year-old BCA, local businesses and security outfit Beagle Watch. Together they were able to clear out the area, fence it off and secure it so that vehicles could no longer drive down to the weir.
Her next focus was the swimming pool that had stood neglected and unused for years in a park that had been overrun by homeless people. The facility is owned by the municipality, which is supposed to maintain and manage it. “It might be their job to make sure it opens, is clean and safe and functional but in reality, that was never going to happen,” Harman said.
She connected with Fleishman and David Caseiro of Beagle Watch to start planning.
“People might think Blairgowrie is an affluent suburb, but it’s just middle-class. The stands are small and few people have swimming pools, so having a public pool is necessary and a big deal for the area,” Fleishman said.
Harman made contact with city officials and called a meeting with representatives from City Parks as well as Sports and Recreation — the entity responsible for swimming pools.
On January 21, in less than half an hour, they struck an agreement that would see the BCA authorised to manage and fund the process of cleaning up, reopening the pool and sorting out the local recreation centre. “We’re proud of our community and our homes, and it is something that had to be done. The community came to the party,” Fleishman said, explaining how within a few months they had raised funds and donations totalling well over R500,000.
They cleared up the park areas, fenced the perimeter with Clear View fencing and persuaded Beagle Watch to patrol and secure the facility as a free community service.
Ephraim Mdonkwane has been the pool caretaker for 34 years, having moved over to the rec centre a few years ago when the pool was closed. The pump had broken, was sent off for repairs, and disappeared. The pool did not open again. It took a long time to get a new pump, and only recently was it replaced by the city.
Mdonkwane is a keen swimmer and is looking forward to the reopening.
“Residents gave money, and a few businesses too — but it was mostly individuals, many who don’t want to be named. We spent R25,000 on replacing the broken wall, we paid for the municipal signage ourselves, we had the lapa area redone and one of the residents donated R32,000 to replace the broken jungle gym. We had a lot of paint donated, and we’ve installed spotlights for security,” Fleishman said.
On Monday they will start grinding and resurfacing the empty pool — another R50,000 job the city cannot afford.
Aloma Henning, head of sports and recreation’s aquatics division, said her department had bought the new pump, would fund the staffing of the facility and pay for the chemicals and upkeep of the equipment. Shortlisting of lifeguards started last Friday.
But while Blairgowrie is on track, huge problems remain at other pools.
Joburg's department of community development said: “The involvement of the Blairgowrie Community Association played a significant role in the progress at the pool. This demonstrates that community involvement and support, along with respect for facilities, reduces pressure on the department and helps keep facilities operational.”
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