Arts, Culture & Heritage
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Blue Plaque Sites

Orlando Swimming Pool

Table of Contents

About Orlando Swimming Pool

Developed by the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation in consultation with the City of Joburg

Address

Makhetha Street, Orlando East, Soweto
24 September 2019

Inscription

FATHER TREVOR HUDDLESTON In 1954 the Orlando Swimming Bath Appeal Fund Committee handed over the facility to the Johannesburg City Council on condition it retained the name ÒHuddleston Swimming Bath, Orlando.Ó Father Trevor Huddleston had raised the money for this, the first public swimming pool in Soweto, because he knew it was important to provide recreational facilities for the community. He spoke out strongly against apartheid and the destruction of Sophiatown. In 1955 Huddleston was given the supreme honour of Isitwalandwe by the Congress of the People in Kliptown and years later in Britain he chaired the Anti-Apartheid Movement. Nelson Mandela said of him ÒNo white person has done more for South Africa than Trevor HuddlestonÓ.

Photo courtesy: Kabelo Mokoena (Sunday Times)

Explore Joburg

A culmination of research gathered over many years, the Online Johannesburg Heritage Register is being launched on Nelson Mandela Day 18 July 2025.

Among the many heritage sites featured is Chancellor House, the downtown offices of Mandela and Tambo Attorneys in the 1950s. After having been vacant and shuttered for more than a decade, this iconic building is being revived and brought to life once again as offices for the Community Development Department, which oversees the City’s Arts, Culture & Heritage Services.

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