A municipal swimming pool in Ohlange, Inanda, Durban, remains unfinished nearly ten years after construction began in February 2016, with about R15 million of an R80 million budget spent and only a changeroom, pump-room structure, and trenches to show for it. EThekwini Municipality spokesperson Senzelwe Mzila confirmed that the first contractor’s contract was terminated due to poor performance after the R15 million was spent.
The Mercury reported in November 2022 that the City had taken the contractor to court over the incomplete job. DA councillor Remona McKenzie said the legal action was the municipality’s response to the contractor’s failure to deliver on the project.
GroundUp visited the site in March 2026 and found no completed pool, then returned in August 2026 to find no sign of restarted construction. The municipality had promised a new contractor would resume work at the end of April 2026, but GroundUp’s August visit found the site unchanged.
The 2025/26 eThekwini annual financial statement, published by the KwaZulu-Natal provincial treasury, marks the Inanda-New Swimming Pool project as significantly delayed. The document cites supplier performance issues and contract termination as the reasons for the delay, independently corroborating the chronology reported by both GroundUp and The Mercury.
The project was meant to provide a public recreational facility for Inanda, a historically disadvantaged area north of Durban’s city centre where public infrastructure investment has lagged behind wealthier suburbs. Instead, the site has been left idle and vulnerable to vandalism and deterioration, according to GroundUp’s on-site reporting.
EThekwini’s capital project delays are not isolated to Ohlange, as the municipality has faced repeated scrutiny over stalled infrastructure across its jurisdiction. Contractor disputes and budget overruns have featured regularly in municipal oversight reports, raising questions about procurement processes and project management capacity.
What remains unconfirmed is whether a new contractor has been formally appointed or whether the court case against the first contractor has concluded. The municipality has not published a revised completion date, and GroundUp’s August 2026 visit found no evidence of construction activity at the site.
Cape Flats News journalist Luyanda Mtshali will contact eThekwini Municipality this week for an update on the contractor appointment and legal proceedings. The municipality’s response, or lack thereof, will be reported in a follow-up article.