'Closing public pool will drive youngsters further into drugs'

Pretoria – Eersterust has one of the worst drug problems in the city – that is why the closing down of the public swimming pool in the area is so devastating for the community as it leaves youngsters vulnerable to falling prey to drug lords.

“Young people are hunting for things to do because they want to keep busy,” said Pastor William Jafta, chairperson of the Eersterust Ratepayers and Residents Association.

“This closure of the swimming pool is causing us to have a very serious drug impediment."

“People are just loitering around. It’s increasing the drug problems,” he said.

The swimming pool closed after a man employed as the superintendent retired. “This just points to an error in management because as soon as he retired, someone should have replaced him.”

Jafta said the new security guard employed to keep an eye on the facility flung open the gate and did not man the grounds as he should.

“There are vagrants there at the swimming pool and a drug issue all around."

“When people go there they get mugged,” Jafta said.

When the Pretoria News visited the area, locals said the pool had been closed down mainly due to the dirty pool water. The main swimming pool, plus the one next to it meant for children, had green water.

Staff members said there were no chemicals available to treat the water and that the swimming pool pump was also broken.

It also emerged that the city did not have money to fix the problem, according to the locals.

“We were told there was no budget and that we should wait for the next financial year. It becomes tough when people have to be turned away because the visitors don’t understand why this is happening,” said a man who preferred to remain anonymous.

However, MMC for Sports and Recreation Ntsiki Mokhotho denied that the city did not have money. “That is incorrect,” she said.

She did, however, acknowledge that there was a problem.

“The city is aware of this and we are working on it,” Mokhotho said.

She said she had been to the area and was shocked at what she saw.

“I visited the swimming pool three weeks ago. I was expecting to find workers there, but they were nowhere to be seen.”

She knows that the man formerly in charge had retired, she said, and there were problems.

“These facilities are usually handled at a regional level and, if there is a problem that they cannot solve, then we get involved.”

She said she had alerted the mayor to the problem and he told the environmental affairs department to deal with it.

Mokhotho also said the facilities were inherited by the new DA-led administration after it took over following the local government elections last year.

In 2015, President Jacob Zuma held a presidential imbizo in Eersterust after receiving a petition from concerned residents about the drug problem in the area.

He said at the time that the petition he received indicated that over 15 000 people in Eersterust abused drugs.

Among the issues raised by residents during the imbizo was a need for a recreational centre where people could have a safe place to host events or entertain children.

Jafta said he did not have much faith that the city would live up to its promises. When told Mokhotho said she had paid a visit to the area, he asked: “When was this and why were we as residents never informed?”

Pretoria News