Spring is in the air, but once more, the Laudium Swimming Pool remains closed to the public, while thieves seem to have had no problem opening up the Council facility for valuable copper.
Another week has passed and again more incidents of crime have been reported to the Laudium Sun, with residents continuing to question the role of the Laudium CPF, under the chairmanship of Zahid ul Zama, at a time when locals say crime and poor service delivery remain a concern in the area.
This follows one of the latest incidents of crime, where three Black males broke into the Council’s swimming pool premises on 8th Avenue, Laudium, this past Saturday night (September 5), at around 10.30pm, stealing a number of items, including copper cables from the hall. According to CCTV footage, the three thieves broke into the backyard of the swimming pool premises to gain entry to the property, before breaking open the door of the swimming pool hall. This, despite the Tshwane Council awarding security tenders for facilities such as the swimming pool complex.
Despite the new Spring season having started on September 1, the Laudium Swimming Pool was again not opened to the public, while Cllr Naeem Patel has remained silent on the matter. A Council official told the Laudium Sun that the swimming pool was not opened to the public for the new season as they were still waiting for deliveries of chlorine.
Zingwenya Mandelanga, security guard at the Laudium Swimming Pool, told the Laudium Sun, “I was not on duty when the theft took place, but my colleague who was on the night shift was on duty. What I heard from him was that he was not aware of the theft when it took place, even though he was on duty. He told me that he did not hear anything unusual and it seems the incident happened very quickly. The thieves seem to have jumped over the backyard wall of the swimming pool and gained entrance to the premises. They then broke the front door of the swimming pool hall and that is where they stole the copper cables from. The copper cables are worth a serious amount of money and I find it very strange as to how they knew where the copper cables were kept. It is concerning because they appeared to know exactly where to go once they gained entry to the premises. This is really bad for the City of Tshwane as it gives a very bad impression of the facility. As I said, I was not there when the theft occurred, so I cannot say exactly how long the thieves were inside the premises. All I can say is what I heard from my colleague who was working that night. From what I understand, the incident happened very quickly and he did not hear anything that would have alerted him to the theft. I guess a proper investigation will take place and hopefully the culprits will be caught. The CCTV footage should also assist the Police in understanding exactly what happened and how the thieves gained access to the swimming pool premises. It is important that this matter is investigated properly because the copper cables were valuable and the theft can have an impact on the swimming pool and the community. I hope the people responsible will be identified and that measures will be put in place to prevent similar incidents from happening again. This is a serious matter and I hope the investigation will give us answers about how the thieves entered the premises and how they knew about the copper cables. Hopefully the culprits will be caught and brought to justice.”
Farook Khan of 8th Avenue, Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “The Laudium Swimming Pool is supposed to be fully functional and available to the public, but now we are in September and the Laudium Swimming Pool is still not operating. This is very frustrating because all we hear are different reasons and excuses for why the swimming pool is not open and operating. I heard about the Laudium Swimming Pool being broken into and a theft taking place at the facility, a few days after the pool was meant to have been opened, but there always seems to be another reason why it cannot be open to the public. As residents, we are really fed up with the ongoing problems at the Laudium Swimming Pool. This is a community facility and the community should be able to use it, especially during the swimming season. It is disappointing to see that the facility has still not opened, while residents are waiting eagerly for it to be available. We need proper answers from the Councillor or the Council as to what is happening at the swimming pool and when it will actually be fully operational. Residents should not have to keep hearing about problems without seeing a proper solution. The swimming pool is important for the community, especially for children and families who want to use the facility. We need a facility that is properly maintained, properly secured and managed in a way that benefits the community. If there are problems with theft, security or maintenance, these issues need to be addressed by the Council instead of allowing the facility to remain closed or non-functional. I guess there needs to be new management because this old management of the Laudium Swimming Pool is really not serving the interests of the community at all. Something needs to change because the current situation is not acceptable. Residents have been patient for a long time, but the ongoing problems are becoming frustrating. At the end of the day, this is a public facility and the people of Laudium deserve to have a swimming pool that is functional, safe and properly managed.”
Zaheeda Ismail of Garnet Street, Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “The Laudium Swimming Pool was supposed to have been opened on Sept 1, but it did not open. Now we heard about a crime that took place about a week after, so I guess this might be the excuse as to why it is still closed.”
A Council official told the Laudium Sun that the swimming pool was not opened to the public this new season, as they were still waiting for deliveries of chlorine. Of course Cllr Naeem Patel, in seemingly trying to cover up for the ANC-led Tshwane Council, has not mentioned anything about the non-opening of the swimming pool on Sept 1.