City of Cape Town Link

All zeroes for swimming pool heroes

Following a very busy festive season that saw 36 of the City’s 37 swimming pools open to the public, the 31 community facilities will now revert to normal weekend operations until the next school holidays. There were no drownings at City pools over the peak operations period. Read more below:

Community swimming pools opened daily for the peak festive season. Now that the academic year is under way and most people have returned to work, these facilities will cease daily operations on Sunday, 18 January. <figure class="subtopic-fullsize-img"><img class="responsive" src="https://resource.capetown.gov.za/cityassets/Media%20Images%202/IMG_7330.JPG" alt="" style="width:949px;" /></figure>From Monday, 19 January 2026 until 22 March 2026, they will be closed during the weekdays, and operate only on weekends, during the following hours:<ul style="list-style-type:disc;"><li>Fridays : pools will open at 14:00 and close at 18:00 </li><li>Saturdays and Sundays: 10:00 - 18:00 </li></ul>From 23 March until 6 April, community swimming pools will operate on a daily basis again for the school holidays, and pools will close for the season on Tuesday, 7 April. Group bookings wishing to use the pools during the week can still be accommodated, subject to approval by the relevant managers. Lifeguards will be allocated once such approval has been granted.Three indoor pools – Blue Downs, Long Street and Strand, as well as Sea Point will continue to open daily. The fourth indoor pool at Retreat is temporarily closed for repairs to its filtration system. The facility is expected to reopen by 23 January. The highest recorded number of visitors to a single municipal pool was at Sea Point on 28 December 2025, where 3 101 patrons entered the facility throughout the course of the day. This total included more than 700 pensioners. Sea Point also recorded the highest number of adult visitors to a single facility on 26 December 2025, at 1 500. Khayelitsha Swimming Pool recorded the highest number of children entering a municipal swimming pool on a single day this season, with just over 1 600 three to 16-year-olds visiting on 29 December 2025. 'I want to commend our lifeguards and support staff for the enormous effort they have put in to ensure our bathing areas remain safer swimming zones this season. There were no fatal or non-fatal drownings recorded at municipal swimming pools – a remarkable feat, considering just how popular these facilities were with patrons enjoying a day out. 'The season was not without challenges, however. Theft and vandalism of City infrastructure is an ongoing problem, not just at swimming pools, but we also had instances of persons illegally accessing facilities and trespassing after hours, which creates a risk to their own safety, but also potential infrastructure damage. Our swimming pools are critical community assets, and we all have a duty to respect, and protect them,' said Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Francine Higham. GENERAL DROWNING PREVENTION REVIEWThis peak season, the City of Cape Town's lifeguards, with cooperation from the public and collaboration with partners in drowning prevention, have managed to reduce the drowning statistics significantly. Five fatal drownings were recorded along the City's coastline, two of which are still under police investigation. All of these fatal drownings happened outside of demarcated lifeguard safe zones. This is in comparison to the same period in previous seasons where 11 fatalities were recorded in 2024/25, nine in 2023/24 and 15 in 2022/23. Furthermore, 33 non-fatal drownings were recorded, any number of which might have resulted in a fatality had it not been for the lifeguards' interventions. Lifeguard hours at designated beaches remain unchanged, from 10:00 to 18:00 daily to ensure continuous surveillance and supervision.'While the festive season may be over, summer is not. Warmer days over the next few weeks will continue to draw visitors to our facilities. To our lifeguards, thank you. Your vigilance and commitment do not go unnoticed. To residents and visitors who acted responsibly, thank you for playing your part. Let's finish this summer the way we started it - by looking out for one another,' added Councillor Higham.

2026-01-15T22:00:00Z

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