Concerned about the many incidents of children drowning in the Eastern Cape, and that little is being done to prevent these tragic deaths, former SABC broadcaster Yvonne Anunu Mpahla decided to establish the Iminenga Swimming Academy (ISA).
Mdantsane-born Mpahla launched the academy on September 5 2024.
Mpahla said when she returned home in 2010, after working in other provinces, she was dismayed to find that there were still so many incidents of children drowning because they did not know how to swim.
She recalled a sad incident involving her cousin’s friend’s son, who was visiting from Nxarhuni during the school holidays.
On a hot day, he and four friends snuck off to the Bridle Drift Dam, where many Mdantsane children played or swam.
“At about 2pm, only two of them came back to tell us that the other two had drowned in the dam,” she said.
“When the two muddy, lifeless bodies were pulled out, I knew something had to change.”
She said tragedies such as this could be prevented if children had access to a nearby swimming pool where they could learn how to swim safely.
This realisation sparked a dream that would later become a reality.
Today, ISA works with about 50 children between the ages of six and 18 from across the township, teaching them essential water safety and swimming skills, all free of charge.
“Waking up every day to run the academy gives me purpose — it’s about adding value and being part of the change in our community,
“What fulfils me most is the hope it brings, these children are starting to dream of a future in aquatics,” she said.
Though Mpahla may be unemployed in the formal sense, she considers ISA her full-time calling.
She spends her time co-ordinating lessons and programmes, along with the help of two co-founders, Lubabalo Jali and Nangamso Marjorie May, and a small team of volunteers.
However, the academy faces a huge hurdle of not having a pool.
“The biggest challenge is that we don’t have our own swimming facility. Swimming is the one sport where the facility is not optional — it’s the main ingredient.
“Currently, we rely on donations to cover transport and access fees to the Stanmore Aquatics pool in Nahoon, but when we don’t get enough support, we are unable to run our programmes consistently.”
This challenge has inspired the team to look for funding for a more practical solution, an above-ground swimming pool that will allow them to run lessons and water safety programmes without relying on costly facilities.
“We’re not training Olympic athletes yet, our focus is on learning to swim and drowning prevention, and for that, a simple set up would go a long way.”
She said the academy was about more than just swimming, but about creating opportunity, saving lives, and giving children in Mdantsane something to believe in.
Mongami Marala, who nominated Mpahla for the Daily Dispatch Local Hero Awards, said the academy served a vital role in the community by teaching life saving swimming skills to township youth.
“The recent tragic drowning of a Rhodes University student in Port Alfred serves as a painful reminder of the urgent need for widespread swimming education in SA.
“The devastation caused by the Mthatha floods, which claimed numerous lives, further underscores this crisis.
“Drowning remains one of the leading causes of accidental death in the country, and tragically, many of these deaths are preventable,” Marala said.
He said the harsh reality was that most children in townships, such as Mdantsane, had no access to swimming lessons, leaving them especially vulnerable.
Iminenga Swimming Academy was working to change this.
The academy offers free swimming lessons to children in one of the most underserved communities in the Eastern Cape.
More than just teaching a skill, the academy promotes confidence, discipline, teamwork, and resilience.
“Despite its profound impact, the academy operates under severe constraints of not having a swimming pool of its own and depends on sponsorships for transport and fees to access the Nahoon swimming pools in East London.”
Daily Dispatch
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