Cape Town’s popular public swimming pools: a joy for all but not equally spread

If you view Cape Town using Google-Earth, you’ll notice that wealthier districts have a high density of private pools, whereas private pools are rare in poorer areas. This is unsurprising. But what is interesting is that the city’s public pools are also disproportionately distributed in better-off neighbourhoods.

Google Earth shows a plethora of pools in Ocean View Drive overlooking Sea Point/Green Point.

By comparison Google Earth shows very few private pools in Khayelitsha.

The City of Cape Town states on its website:

Cape Town has some of the most breathtaking public swimming pools in the world. Many of our facilities consist of Olympic sized pools, splash pools for children, and fully equipped springboard diving pools.

Cape Town has 36 public swimming pools. By comparison, Johannesburg has 53, but it is a much larger city and it doesn’t have the sea.

A map showing the locations of Cape Town’s public pools. Constructed by Lea Bork on map found at http://www.rentalsincapetown.com/campsbaycapetown/roadmap/.

Khayelitsha has only one pool for nearly 400,000 residents (all population estimates are rounded based on 2011 census). Nyanga, with a population of just under 60,000 has no pool at all. Mitchell’s Plain has five pools for its 310,000 residents.

By comparison the southern suburbs have more pools with a lower population density. There is one each in Observatory (9,000 residents), Wynberg (14,000 residents), Woodstock (13,000 residents) and Newlands (5,000 residents).

All Cape Town’s public pools have lifeguards according to the City. Photo by Lea Bork.

Perhaps the most popular and racially diverse pool in Cape Town is the Sea Point pavilion. This is despite its R20 entrance fee for adults (R10 for children) which is higher than most of the other public pools. Khayelitsha’s pool entrance fee is, for example, R5.50 for adults (R1.50 for children). The Guardian rated the Sea Point pool one of the top ten in the world last year.

Children playing at Sea Point pool. Photo by Lea Bork.

The City of Cape Town writes of the Sea Point pool, “On any given day in summer you’ll find a colourful mix of locals and tourists soaking up the sun, professional and recreational swimmers ploughing up and down the pool, and people of all ages frolicking in the water.”