Jozi Community Races to Save Zoo Lake Pool Before Its 100th Birthday

Photo Credit: aPress Release / Friends of Zoo Lake Pool

One of Jozi’s best-loved swimming spots needs urgent TLC. A pool-going community is stepping up to make good things happen!

Johannesburg, South Africa (16 July 2026) – The Zoo Lake public pool has been part of Jozi summers for almost a century. Residents are working together to make sure it stays that way for another 100 more to come…

Friends of Zoo Lake Pool, an NPO committed to preserving the historic swimming pool, has launched an online fundraising campaign to raise R400,000 for urgent repairs that need to be done ahead of the 2026/27 swimming season.

The pool’s ageing inlet and outlet pipes are leaking and causing significant water loss. Unless they’re replaced before the start of the season, the pool won’t be able to open.

With its 100th birthday coming up in 2028, there’s even more motivation to get the work done.

Zoo Lake’s public pool was built in the late 1920s and as Johannesburg has expanded, it has remained one of the city’s few open-air municipal pools. Today, it’s still an affordable place for many families to spend summer days, where children learn to swim and local clubs train.

It’s a much-loved spot that many Joburgers have grown up with, making the prospect of a closed pool something the community is keen to avoid.

“The pool has been a fixture in our community for so long it’s hard to imagine a summer without it. It’s a great public space that welcomes everyone – kids learn how to swim here, families gather on Sunday afternoons and there’s always lifeguards keeping an eye on things. It would be a real loss,” said Claire Bracher, a Greenside resident and member of Friends of Zoo Lake Pool.

Photo Credit: aPress Release / Friends of Zoo Lake Pool

While the City of Johannesburg allocates R200,000 a year for maintenance, the ageing infrastructure now requires work that goes beyond the available budget. Friends of Zoo Lake Pool has approached the provincial government for additional support, but with a 1 September deadline to complete the repairs, public donations have become an important part of the plan.

The pipe replacement is the first phase of the restoration project. Future fundraising will help cover repainting, infrastructure upgrades and ongoing maintenance as the pool approaches its centenary.