Two swimming pools (25m and 50m) were to be built for some of the best young swimmers from across the globe at Franschhoek High School. The Franschhoek High Performance Centre was also intended to be a training site for local swimmers to prepare for the Olympic Games. (Photo: Keanan Hemmonsbey) 
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Swimming South Africa’s (SSA) recent “clarification” statement to Daily Maverick’s reporting on the state of the crumbling Franschhoek High Performance Centre (HPC), published on 29 January, is a textbook lesson in “bureaucratic deflection”.
It barely provides any answers to the facts and details outlined in the original article and raises even tougher questions for the federation.
Read more: Swimming SA under investigation over Franschhoek High Performance Centre debacle
SSA paints a picture of being hamstrung by red tape, portraying itself as a diligent and competent steward, which is waiting on a sluggish National Lotteries Commission (NLC).
Its full statement can be read here.
Yet, the distance between SSA’s statement and the reality at Franschhoek High School in the Western Cape is as massive as the distance between Franschhoek and SSA’s Johannesburg offices.
The federation claims “full compliance” for NLC funding and cites a year-old engineering report as some sort of depiction of adequacy.
Post-apocalyptic wasteland
/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_83932_712819.jpg "One of the derelict pools at the SSA High Performance Centre in Franschhoek, Western Cape, in January 2026. (Photo: Keanan Hemmonsbey)")
The truth on the ground though, reveals a post-apocalyptic wasteland where millions in public and international funding has dissolved into sewage-filled pools and stripped hostels.
Just exactly how has the money SSA received been spent?
Even more startling is SSA’s “surprise” at being under scrutiny from the Special Investigating 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 ongoing investigation challenges SSA’s defence.
/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_83712_980659.jpeg "This banner declaring the imminent opening of the SSA High Performance Centre in Franschhoek still forlornly flutters in the wind. (Photo: Keanan Hemmonsbey)")
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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 currently resemble a vandalised, abandoned construction zone with sewage-filled pools?
SSA is using a technical sign-off from 2025 to justify a disaster in 2026. “Adequacy” in a report doesn’t mean the money was spent effectively on the ground.
/file/attachments/orphans/TL_1704978_557213.jpg "Swimming SA president Alan Fritz. (Photo: Wessel Oosthuizen / Gallo Images)")
Disbursement vs expenditure
In SSA’s statement, it admits to receiving the “first tranche” of funding from the NLC but leaves it there. Exactly how many millions did this tranche consist of, and can SSA provide a line-item breakdown of how that specific money was spent, given that the facility is currently unusable?
The federation blames the NLC for delaying the second tranche, but it doesn’t explain what happened to the millions already in its possession.
SSA states it was “surprised” to hear of the SIU investigation and that it has not been contacted. However, the SIU has publicly confirmed the matter is on its list.
“The Swimming SA matter is currently on the list of SIU investigations; therefore, the NLC will not provide any commentary response at this stage until the matter is […] finalised and [a] report is provided by the SIU,” the NLC said in an emailed response to Daily Maverick.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago told Daily Maverick before publication of the 29 January story: “[…] the investigation is at an early and sensitive stage, so we cannot delve into the details of the probe”.
So it begs the question, does SSA intend to reach out to the SIU to proactively clear its name, or will it wait for a formal subpoena?
The SIU often investigates the flow of money from the NLC before it knocks on the door of the recipient.
Denying the investigation exists when a state unit has confirmed it, at best makes SSA look uninformed and at worst, dishonest.
/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_2183_701513.jpeg "The site of SSA’s High Performance Centre in Franschhoek resembles a wasteland. (Photo: Keanan Hemmonsbey)")
Developer contract terminated
The Western Cape Education Department confirmed that the contract with the original developer, Train Camp, was terminated, and that SSA is now “assisting” in the completion.
Why was that contract terminated, and what legal or financial liabilities did SSA incur (or resolve) during that transition?
The SSA statement completely ignores the messy divorce from Train Camp, which is likely where the “blackmail and corruption” allegations reported on in the original story originate.
However, SSA does plead its innocence in the statement: “[SSA] rejects any suggestion of wrongdoing, maladministration, or irregularity.”
Regardless of NLC administrative delays, SSA is the custodian of this project. Who is the specific official at SSA responsible for site security and maintenance?
Why was the facility allowed to be vandalised and fall into such a state of decay while “waiting for funding”?
In classic bureaucratic fashion, SSA is blaming “processes” for the lack of building, but processes don’t cause decay and vandalism – lack of oversight does.
The SSA statement focuses almost exclusively on NLC funding. What is the status of the R8.5-million from World Aquatics and the R6-million from the Sports Trust? Have those funds also been exhausted, and if so, on what?
In early 2024, SSA claimed the project would be completed by April 2025. It blames the 2023 “floods” for the delay. We are now in 2026. Aside from “NLC delays,” what internal project management failures contributed to missing this deadline by nearly a year?
SSA’s statement attempts to paint a picture of an organisation hamstrung by others, presumably waiting for the NLC or Sports Trust to give it permission to continue.
It would be laughable if it weren’t so tragic.
/file/attachments/2988/IMG_83532_650894.jpg "Another view of what remains of the SSA High Performance Centre in Franschhoek. (Photo: Keanan Hemmonsbey)")
Duty of care?
SSA’s statement chooses to focus on the flow of money. However, millions have already been spent on securing the site and undertaking some construction.
As the project custodian, why did SSA fail to provide adequate security for the site, allowing hostels to be vandalised and doors/windows to be stolen?
Is it suggesting that a multimillion-rand federation cannot afford a basic security guard or firm to protect a R111-million public/private asset?
This facility was marketed as one of only four World Aquatics HPCs globally. International scholarship recipients were supposed to be training and studying there as of 2023/2024. Where are those athletes now?
If the programme was cancelled, did SSA refund the R8.5-million it received from World Aquatics?
SSA’s statement carefully avoids mentioning Train Camp, the original developer. Sources claim the site was “torn apart” following a fallout between the school and Train Camp. What is the current legal status of SSA’s relationship with Train Camp?
It further begs the question, did SSA perform due diligence on Train Camp before entering a partnership with it, and is there any pending litigation regarding the “missing” fixtures and furniture?
SSA cites a 2025 engineer’s report to the NLC as proof of progress. Will SSA publicly release this report?
It claims the report is “adequate”, but the photos show a “wasteland” of sewage and weed – either the report is outdated or the “adequate” work has since been destroyed. Does this report reflect the current state of the facility as of February 2026?
This project has stalled under the same leadership that has now bypassed the 12-year term limit (three terms) set by the SSA constitution. How can stakeholders trust this executive to finish a decade-old project when they are currently operating in apparent violation of their own governance rules?
Beyond the NLC, SSA received R6-million from the Sports Trust. Daily Maverick is following up with the Sports Trust (and World Aquatics) to ascertain whether SSA provided a separate report explaining the decay of the facilities funded by that specific grant.
SSA is trying to make it sound like the only issue is about NLC funding. The reality is that it has multiple paymasters to answer to.
Since the school’s lease with the developer was terminated, it has been left with ruined property.
What exactly is SSA’s restoration plan for the school if the HPC project is officially declared a failure by the SIU?
The questions go on and on, while there is a real “human cost” to the local community and students who lost their sports grounds. DM