GOOD Statement by Keagen Gertse ,
GOOD Drakenstein Councillor & Caucus Whip
5 March 2025
The GOOD Party in Drakenstein Municipality is calling on the municipal executive to strongly reconsider its capital budget spend to include more social and recreational facilities. As the population of Drakenstein continues to grow, it is essential that the municipality meets the increasing demand for public spaces that support community engagement, health, and well-being. The GOOD Party believes that inclusive and accessible recreational areas help build a more cohesive and connected society.
Following written questions submitted by GOOD, the MMC for Tourism, Sports and Recreation, Laurichia van Niekerk revealed that the current by-law makes no provision to consider population ratios as a factor to decide if more swimming pools are needed. The by-law solely focuses on admissions, the use of facilities, and the safety and security around these public assets.
GOOD sees this as a flaw in the municipal governing guidelines as population density and growth should always influence key decision-making, especially around infrastructure development.
According to the MMC’s response, three of the five public swimming pools were constructed between 1985 – 1988. GOOD believes the population dynamic has changed immensely in 40 years and more swimming pools are needed. We believe a matrix should be used to determine when and where recreational facilities must be constructed in the future.
By the MMC’s own admission, this is not the first time a call has been made for more public swimming pools but clearly the calls have fallen on deaf ears. GOOD believes this issue has been overlooked by the political leadership, primarily because the need for public recreational facilities is most pressing in the poorer communities. These communities are often underserved in terms of infrastructure and resources.
In the past, the Drakenstein Municipality has been happy to take out costly loans to develop infrastructure in wealthier communities but development in poorer areas relies purely on treasury grants. In 2011 Drakenstein took a R300 million loan (later escalating it to R1.6 Billion) to develop infrastructure for the South City Corridor (Boschenmeer, Val-De-Vie, Pearl Valley and Simondium).
It is unacceptable that infrastructure developments take place in such an imbalanced way. GOOD urges the municipality to include the needs of communities of lesser means into the 2025/2026 Integrated Development Plan framework, the Spatial Development Framework and all budgeting processes accordingly.
Media enquiries: media@forgood.org.za