The City of Johannesburg is pleading with residents of Eldorado Park to assist in a fight against theft and vandalism. This call comes after the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Community Development Cllr Margret Arnolds visited the Eldorado Park Proper Swimming Pool in Extension 8 on Wednesday 25th November 2020.
The visit was prompted by the repeat theft and vandalism which continued despite the facility having security guards posted on site and also sought to inspect progress made on repairs at Swimming Pool.
The MMC was accompanied by the Acting Executive Director, the Facility Enhancement Unit management, Sport and Recreation management and community members during the site inspection.
The inspection revealed that the security personnel were being overpowered by criminal elements from the community who have turned themselves into vandals who continue to steal valuable electrical cables and steel items, breaking all glazing and attempting to remove metal roof sheets.
The Sport and Recreation officials indicated that the vandals beat and chased security guards who were placed at this facility.
A worrying discovery during the visit was kids who were found swimming unsupervised in main pool which was filled with rain water. It is suspected that the kids gained access into the swimming pool yard through the opening on the precast perimeter fence caused by the vandals.
Johannesburg loses millions of rand a year to vandalism and theft of infrastructure and assets, hampering service delivery and, more often than not, putting people’s lives at risk.
In the meantime, the City will speed up the process of appointing a contractor to fix the three (3) openings on the precast perimeter fence and drain the rain water in the main pool to minimize the risk of unsupervised kids drowning.
Furthermore, all interventions required to have the swimming pool operational again will be accelerated. This includes among others replacing stolen and vandalized items, organizing for the repair and servicing of pool equipment, cleaning, beefing up the security guards and support staff.
The City would like to urge residents to report acts of theft and vandalism of infrastructure to law enforcement authorities for the perpetrators to be brought to book.
ENDS
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Issued by Community Development Department
City of Johannesburg
