FOR almost three years, since before the COVID-19 lockdown was implemented, the Malabar Swimming Pool has been in a state of disrepair.
Now that the school holidays are here, the children of Ward 10 have nowhere to play since the pool cannot be utilised and even the ward’s sport grounds are dilapidated.
Speaking to PE Express outside the facility recently, Ward 10 Councillor, Lenny Moodley, made it clear that he is tired of his ward being neglected and pleas for a budget to upgrade the swimming pool go unnoticed.
With the festive season in full swing and the recent hot weather Nelson Mandela Bay residents have been receiving, Moodley said that a working community pool is now a necessity more than ever.
Although he is aware of the metro’s drought crisis, Moodley indicated that even before the situation was so dire, the swimming pool was already in a dilapidated state.
PA and ward assistant, Vinash Indarjee, said that the pool has been badly neglected for years.
“The entire place is derelict. It’s not usable.
“It is dirty; vagrants are inhabiting the place and all light fittings have been stolen,” he explained.
Pointing to the building next to the pool where all the equipment was held to operate the pool, Indarjee said that every single piece of equipment, including motors and pumps, had been stolen from the building. It is completely empty.
“All the electrical equipment that generates the pumps for the water have all been stripped and removed,” he added.
“People are jumping over the wall of the facility and some people buy alcohol and come and drink out here. This is also their toilet.
“Everything happens here but if this place gets spruced up, it’ll be safer for the community and look much better,” Indarjee said.
Moodley emphasised the dire conditions of the swimming pool.
“Things are broken inside here and they have stolen all the stuff. There is a stigma out there that Malabar is rich and can afford to do all these things by itself but there are a lot of poor people living in Malabar.
“We have three informal settlements in Malabar and our children can’t enjoy the facilities of the ward, even now when it is holiday time.
“I am tired of this ward being neglected.”
Moodley added that even with regard to media representation, only a small platform has been given to his ward to create awareness about their swimming pool and its derelict state.
“No one is taking Malabar seriously. The ward is being left behind and being neglected and abandoned. When it comes to budgeting, Malabar doesn’t get enough but other wards are budgeted for. We want to know why.
“For the past eleven months, our office with our ward committee and residents, have been fighting for Malabar but it has been falling on deaf ears,” Moodley said.
Nelson Mandela Bay mayor, Retief Odendaal, said that it is unfortunately regrettable that the budget tabled and adopted by Council in June this year did not give a fair allocation to all communities in terms of ward-based budgeting.
“In the adjustments budget, the new coalition government is certainly going to be looking at a fair distribution of budget because we believe that every community has the right to a fair allocation of municipal resources,” he said.
He added that the state of the swimming pool in this ward is not unique to this ward as the effects of vandalism can be seen all over the metro. “What we have been doing is putting together a plan that will see us implementing measures over the next couple of months to secure many of our community assets,” he added.
Odendaal also reminded the community to help take care of these facilities.
