SAVE HILLCREST SWIMMING POOL
Contact the author of the petition
Feedback 15 September
2023-09-15 18:58:07Hallo all
Herewith feedback frCouncillor Jarad Frimmel
*UPDATE #11 - FEEDBACK ON THE HILLCREST SWIMMING POOL*
_15 SEPTEMBER 2023_
The Hillcrest Swimming Pool is open as of this morning. Challenges with the supply chain are resolved, and chlorine gas is available for the foreseeable future.
Thank you to the Friends of Hillcrest for the donation of the HTH. The algae in the pool has been killed, and the pool was being suctioned earlier today to remove any dead algae and bacteria. The pool has also been chemically tested and is safe for swimming. The pool is a bit milky but should be blue and clear again by Monday.
There was a leak affecting the heaters and pumps which is now resolved. They are both operational again and will continue to run as normal. The increase in load-shedding stages is hurting the running of the pumps and heaters as there is no backup power supply.
The report that I requested on the status of swimming pools in the City of Tshwane was brought before the council on 12 September 2023. Please find the details of the report below. If you have any questions or comments, you're welcome to contact me directly.
*MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF MUNICIPAL SWIMMING POOLS*
There are 23 Regional swimming pools for which the Regional Operations and Coordination Department are responsible for operations and maintenance. There are also seven Resort swimming pools that falls within the ambit of the Environment and Agriculture Management Department.
The repair and maintenance of the municipal swimming pools are done annually but are hampered by budget constraints. The current financial position of the City of Tshwane has resulted in the suspension of contracted services as a cost containment measure, (Circular 35 of 2022), and this places a further damper on swimming pool repairs and maintenance.
Another challenge was that the previous tender, ROC 04 2018/ 19 Repair & Maintenance of Swimming Pools, unfortunately did not include all the specifications needed to address the repairs required for specialised needs of some swimming pools. This situation is being addressed through the newly approved Repair & Maintenance of Swimming Pools tender (ROC 10 2021/22).
The ROC 10 2021/22 tender unfortunately took longer than expected to be approved. The bid was advertised on 18 January 2022, and closed on 18 February 2022. The tender served at the BAC on 29 September 2022 but after the resolution could not be traced it was returned and served at the BAC held on 19 January 2023. The appointment letters were issued in March 2023 and repairs and maintenance are currently being implemented by the appointed service providers.
*WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF THE COT SWIMMING POOLS?*
The Community Services Section in the Regions is responsible for the management, operations, and maintenance of Regional (loose standing) swimming pools.
ROC Regional Technical Services/ Headquarters plays a coordinating role for Community Services in the Regions including the coordinating the drafting and implementation of tenders such as the ROC 08 2021/22 Seasonal Lifeguards tender, ROC 10 2021/22 Repair & Maintenance of Swimming Pools tender, ROC 04 2019/20 Swimming Pool Uniforms and Equipment tender.
Tenders from other departments being utilised include tenders such as the USD WS 05 2019/ 20 Liquid Chlorine Gas tender, the CSOP 01-2021/22 fencing tender that still need to be approved, and the GPM 12 2017/18 buildings maintenance tender.
*CHALLENGES FACED BY EACH SWIMMING POOL AND ESTIMATED COST - WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING EACH SWIMMING POOL AND THE ESTIMATED COST*
SECURITY CHALLENGES
Community services facilities currently have inadequate security guards and systems that has led to vandalism of these facilities such as in the case of Nellmapius Swimming Pool in Region 6.
The budget for security services was centralized with the Service Delivery Rapid Response and Intervention Unit in the Office of the City Manager. All the Regional security needs was submitted to the Office of the City Manager from where the deployment and payment of security services takes place.
Community services facilities currently have inadequate security guards and systems. The ROC Department were informed that the inadequate number of security guards and systems are due to budget constraints.
STAFFING CHALLENGES
The Regional Swimming Pools have challenges related to vacant positions. Although the budget constrains also contribute to Saulsville and Hans Moolman swimming pools being closed, the lack of adequate personnel at these Regional swimming pools contributes to the closure of these swimming pools
The current Organisational Structure does not cater for enough personnel to ensure the optimal management and operations at the Regional swimming pools. As an option, the ROC had through the ongoing Organisational Structure review interviews held with Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) requested the optimisation of the current structure to improve efficiencies.
UNAVAILABILITY OF CRITICAL MATERIAL
The City’s liquidity challenges resulted in some service providers such as those delivering Liquid Chlorine Gas (USD WS 05 2019/ 20) to the Regional swimming pools to interrupt delivery due to non-payment of their invoices.
LOAD SHEDDING
The cumulative spikes/surges caused by load- shedding is affecting the working cycles of pumps and interrupting water circulation. It also have a negative impact on the circulation systems and equipment leading to an increased number of equipment failures post load shedding switchbacks.
BUILDING MAINTENACE CHALLENGES
Although the maintenance mandate was transferred to ROC, Group Property need to provide support services to departments as they still had internal capacity for routine maintenance through the issuing of Maintenance Job Orders. There are unfortunately many
vacancies, and the number of facility management officials are continuously declining due to workforce attrition.
To address the challenges such as a growing backlog due to the declining number of facility management officials, 7 contractors were appointed on the GPM 12 2017/ 18 tender. Unfortunately, these contractors are struggling to meet the maintenance demand as can be
seen from the high percentage of the budget for Commitment/ Work in Progress (Open Purchase Orders that cannot be completed).
The building maintenance spending figures clearly indicate that the budget is not necessarily the issue but rather the fact that we now almost exclusively outsource building maintenance and facility management’s responsibilities for repairs and maintenance to the service providers who cannot meet the demand.
REGISTRATION OF CAPEX RELATED MAINTENANCE NEEDS ON CAPS
The Regions do reactive maintenance and repairs of Community Services facilities from the operational budget while line departments are responsible for capital (CAPEX) related refurbishment and upgrades.
To raise the CAPEX needs for Community Services the ROC Department has registered these projects on the CAPS system. The ROC department are liaising with the Project Management Unit as well as the relevant line departments such as Community and Social Development Services, Environment and Agriculture Management, and Group Property
Management to address these.
*SWIMMING POOL REVENUE*
The ROC department have revenue streams from lone standing swimming pools. As indicated in the IDP, these social facilities fulfil the role of promoting wellness and assist in creating a healthy and vibrant city as one of the adopted key strategic priorities of the City of Tshwane. In its nature these public social facilities are demand driven and are mainly used by NPO’s and members of the community. In some regions, these social facilities are the only recreational service available to the community. An increase in these fees will most probably result in a drop in demand or objected to by the members of the local community.
*DONATION PROCESS - WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR PRIVATE ENTITIES AND STAKEHOLDERS LIKE ‘FRIENDS OF’ GROUPS WHO ARE WILLING TO DONATE IN KIND TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES THAT THE SWIMMING POOLS ARE FACING?*
The process for donations is to submit a donation agreement together with a letter of intent indicating the form and nature of the donation offered. Unfortunately, the Municipal Finance Management Act No. 56 of 2003 are very stringent regarding the form and nature of the ‘donation in kind’ being offered.
As an example, when a ‘Friends of’ group recently submitted their donation agreement and letter of intent the company unfortunately did not provide a detailed cost breakdown of the items and/or services in the scope and method (overall plan and timeframe) specified as part of the donation being offered. Because the estimated cost of the repairs that was offered included maintenance for which the City of Tshwane would need to bear the cost, the donation offering would have caused a contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act No. 56 of 2003.
Furthermore, a broader range of repairs are required, as the heating system, together with the lane ropes and pool cover, act as a system to heat and to retain the heat of the pool at the required 25 degrees overnight. The current covers are damaged beyond repair and should be replaced. The damage was caused by the old lane ropes, and this should first be replaced to ensure that new covers are not damaged as well.
The CoT funded repairs are underway to address the maintenance needs of Hillcrest Swimming Pool as detailed in Annexure A.
*ROC VIEW ON PARTNERING WITH PUBLIC TO ASSIST WITH REPAIRS AND UPGRADES OF FACILITIES - WHAT IS THE DEPARTMENT’S VIEW ON PARTNERING WITH THE PUBLIC TO ASSIST WITH REPAIRS AND UPGRADES WHERE NEEDED?*
The Regional Operations and Coordination Department (ROC) would welcome initiatives for partnering with the public to assist with challenges being faced that affect service delivery. However, these ‘donation offerings’ would need to comply to legislation such as the Municipal Finance Management Act No. 56 of 2003.
In the case of Hillcrest Swimming Pool, the lane ropes and covers also need to be attended to for the heating system to operate optimally. These have not been mentioned in the offer and should also be considered when committing to any repairs.
*IMPLICATIONS*
7.1 Financial Implications
Filling of vacant unfunded positions, and assistance of stakeholder line departments with the provision of CAPEX for aggressive refurbishment of obsolete/dilapidated Regional Swimming pools.
7.2 Human Resources Implications
Shortage of personnel have a serious negative impact on service delivery by the Regions.
*CONCLUSION*
The report gave background and gave the status of the Regional Swimming Pools including their maintenance progress since the previous financial year 2021/ 2022 as well as 2022/2023. It endeavoured to address the questions forwarded by the Section 79 Oversight Committee: Utility Services such as who is responsible for the management and maintenance of Regional Swimming Pools; the biggest challenges for each Regional Swimming Pool and cost to address these; the revenue generated for the past two financial years; the process for submitting donation in kind by ‘friends of’ groups and the view on partnering with the public sector that needs to be in compliance with the legislative framework of municipalities
Regards,
Jarad Frimmel
Ward Councillor | Ward 56
jaradf@tshwane.gov.za
0658104472
Concerned Citizens
*HILLCREST SWIMMING POOL IS OPEN AGAIN AFTER BEING CLOSED FOR REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE*
2023-07-04 12:50:37Good day all
Thank you for signing this most important petition to save Hillcrest swimming pool. Your contribution was indeed successful. Numerous newspaper articles also assisted this initiative.
The petition list has been handed over to council and will keep the authorities in check.
To be updated with the latest info on Hillcrest please join the Hillcrest whatsapp group, link here https://chat.whatsapp.com/BsxJMX8plniKcShYz6JELS
Below the good news
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*HILLCREST SWIMMING POOL IS OPEN AGAIN AFTER BEING CLOSED FOR REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE*
_04 JULY 2023_
I am pleased to announce that the Hillcrest Swimming Pool is officially open to the public following repairs and upgrades to its heating and water reticulation system.
Repairs and maintenance that took place include the installation of a new inverter heating system, the repair and service of the boiler system, the repair and service of the pool pumps, the repair of the water reticulation system, and general maintenance in and around the facility.
Hillcrest Swimming Pool is one of a few pools which operate all year and is well used by recreational and professional bathers, swimming clubs and various schools, and activities and programmes such as swimming galas take place. I am pleased that many of these activities can now resume with the pool open again.
The winter operating hours for the Hillcrest Swimming Pool are Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 18:00, Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00, and Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00.
The following general rules apply:
1. The following are not allowed at our swimming pools:
Alcoholic beverages Pets and animals Dangerous games Throwing around dangerous objects
2. All refuse must be placed in the refuse bins.
3. Misbehaviour will result in offenders being barred from the swimming pool and swimming pool grounds.
4. Any reasonable request by an official on duty must be obeyed.
5. Only recognised swimwear is allowed.
6. All facilities are used at their own risk.
There is still lots of work to do, and I encourage everyone to share any issues you encounter with me directly whilst using the facility so that I may add them to my list.
Happy swimming 
Regards,
Jarad Frimmel
Ward Councillor | Ward 56
jaradf@tshwane.gov.za
"I will continue to monitor and work on the pool and facility. There is still lots of work to do but I will continue to update on the group as progress is made."
Please send any issues to me directly at jaradf@tshwane.gov.za so that I can address them.
Concerned Citizens