Swimming SA's statement raises yet more questions

Aquatics federation ducks and dives on crumbling Franschhoek High Performance Centre

- By Craig Ray

The recent “clarification” statement sent by Swimming South Africa (SSA) in response to Daily Maverick’s reporting on the state of the crumbling Franschhoek High Performance Centre, published on 29 January, is a textbook lesson in “bureaucratic deflection”.

It barely provides any answers and raises even tougher questions for the federation.

SSA paints a picture of being hamstrung by red tape, portraying itself as a diligent and competent steward, which is waiting for a sluggish National Lotteries Commission (NLC). Yet, the distance between SSA's statement and the reality at Franschhoek High School is as massive as the distance between Franschhoek and SSA's Joburg offices.

The federation claims “full compliance” for NLC funding and cites a year-old engineering report as some sort of depiction of adequacy. The truth on the ground, though, reveals a post-apocalyptic wasteland where millions of rands in public and international funding has dissolved into sewage-filled pools and stripped hostels.

Just exactly how has the money SSA has received been spent? Even more startling is its “surprise” at being under scrutiny from the Special Investigations Unit (SIU). Both the NLC and the SIU confirmed the investigation in Daily Maverick's original story. And let's be clear, this story is only about the Franschhoek site; it doesn't even begin to touch on SSA's other well-documented problems.

From “lifer” board members bypassing their own constitutional term limits to the tragic abandonment of World Aquatics scholarship athletes, Daily Maverick’s continuing investigation challenges SSA’s defence.

More questions than answers

SSA's statement claims that in April 2025, NLC independent engineers confirmed the “adequacy and accuracy” of its progress report. If the work was deemed “adequate” a year ago, why does the site now resemble a vandalised, abandoned construction zone with sewage-filled pools?