Durban — The Asherville Ratepayers Association has informed that the official steering committee that was established to oversee the Balkumar Singh swimming pool project will be responsible for the dissemination of official communication about the pool after a video went viral on social media about the derelict state of the pool.
A video clip went viral on social media over the weekend, showing the state of the pool and appealing to the public and the eThekwini Municipality to assist in restoring the pool to what it used to be.
Reacting to the video, Asherville Ratepayers Association (ARA) chairperson Dr Annie Singh issued a statement to residents regarding the dissemination of information pertaining to the operation of the swimming pool.
Singh said on Friday, November 11, 2022, an official steering committee was established for overseeing the Balkumar Singh swimming pool project.
“This steering committee will be responsible for the dissemination of official communication pertaining to the Balkumar Singh swimming pool project,” Singh said.
She said the committee is essentially composed of councillor Remona Mckenzie, ARA, ward committee members, the municipality and other relevant identified stakeholders who have pledged their support and commitment to this project.
“We wish to state that we are aware of a certain video that has been in circulation on social media,” Singh said.
“We wish to state, quite categorically, that we are not associated with this video - the source of which is unknown.
“We are grateful and indebted to the municipality that has been instrumental in ensuring the commencement of this project,” Singh said.
She said they would keep residents and all the relevant stakeholders apprised of progress in this regard.
On Saturday, Zain Soosiwala was at the swimming pool.
Soosiwala said that the swimming pool was better known as the Asherville pool.
He described the story of the pool as heartbreaking since the pool had been the “lifeblood of the community”.
He said it had been used many times, including summer weekends, by many of the people living in Asherville.
Soosiwala said the video was to show the devastation of the pool.
He said the Asherville pool was built in 1964 and was the pride and joy.
“This is heartbreaking.”
“Let’s hope the powers that be are watching and do something about this because this place can be salvaged. Even if it means we’re mobilising the community out here to come out in our numbers and clean up the sludge that’s inside of the pool,” Soosiwala said.
He said it looked as though the pool was decimated during the April floods and had not reopened since then.
Soosiwala said that there was a guard placed at the pool for 24 hours, but there were already signs of the pool being stripped.
“Apart from smelling terrible, it’s filled with reeds, filled with sand, there’s something crawling in the grass,” he said. “The wall’s collapsed at the back, no effort has been made to re-erect it, just a bit of danger tape, and that’s it,” he described.
He said the bones of the pool were still there, intact. It just needs a little bit of care, and he thought that with some attention from the municipality, the pool can be salvaged.
“I’m sure it’s a significant time and investment on the municipality’s part, but I think it’s worth it in light of what this community has been through, what this place represents to the community,” he said.
“We will put in the time and effort to revamp this place. We will take back this place if need be.”
Soosiwala added that it was sad that so many childhood memories were made there, and they cannot pass on those childhood memories to their children.
Daily News