Concerned entities say while progress is being made by the President Cyril Ramaphosa - appointed eThekwini Presidential Working Group (PWG), more needs to be done regarding the challenges facing the municipality.
Ramaphosa highlighted the challenges in eThekwini during his address at the Opening of Parliament last week, stressing the importance of returning the City to its former stature.
Ramaphosa told the National Assembly that he had visited eThekwini earlier this year.
“I met residents of the City, with local business leaders and municipal officials. They told me that they wanted to work together to build a City that they could be proud of again.
“We have since put in place the eThekwini Presidential Working Group to enhance support from national and provincial governments to turn the Metro administration around, to fix the problems in water and sanitation and attract new investment.”
Ramaphosa said they will extend the same approach to other metropolitan cities that face serious challenges so that cities can be engines of growth and dynamic centres of opportunity.
The PWG was established earlier this year after Ramaphosa met various stakeholders in eThekwini to address challenges such as water supply, poorly maintained and damaged infrastructure and crime.
In a separate move, eThekwini was placed under Section 154 intervention last month, led by former city manager Mike Sutcliffe and former director-general in the Presidency, Cassius Lubisi.
Andrzej Kiepiela, head of the KZN Growth Coalition, said he welcomes the progress made by the PWG.
“We have met with the group and we are happy with the progress that is being made in addressing challenges, including water. There are key areas that the group is addressing in eThekwini and this includes water challenges, the level of crime and security issues, repairing infrastructure and bringing back tourists to the City.”
Kiepiela said the group is also looking at the issue of public-private partnerships.
“This is crucial as it will grow the City’s economy and we also need a private partnership to reposition the Port of Durban as the top-performing port in Africa. The Presidential Working Group will update the president on the progress made in addressing the City’s challenges.”
Desmond D’Sa, co-ordinator of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, said they are calling for the PWG to address the water crisis in eThekwini.
“We met the PWG and put forward what we believe should be a solution to the ongoing water problems. As civil society in Durban we want to get an integrated approach which includes finding a lasting solution and putting people first.”
Terry MacLarty, chairperson of the uMhlanga Ratepayers and Residents Association, said they are having their AGM this week and have invited Sutcliffe as a guest speaker.
“As residents our main issues are the water and sewerage issues which are crippling the economy, creating job losses and detrimentally affecting the uMhlanga tourism sector.
“We have constantly seen eThekwini run out of money and that excuse is used to fail on proper service delivery, which the ratepayers pay for. Some of the issues are roadworks, potholes, Metro under-staffing, parks and waste collection.
eThekwini Ratepayers and Residents Association (ERRA) chairperson Ish Praladh said there are many issues in the City that need to be attended to.
“This includes the billing system and unnecessary billing on estimates.
Service delivery is deteriorating including roads, electricity, water and Durban Solid Waste. We also need to know how tenders are awarded, especially tenders for grass cutting, the rehabilitation of roads and potholes.”
Meanwhile, in his Opening of Parliament Address debate on Monday, Ramaphosa said he welcomes Minister of Cogta Velenkosini Hlabisa’s determination to ensure that all municipalities receive the necessary administrative, technical and financial support for them to be viable and stable.
He said this represents the seventh administration’s clear intention to improve the functioning of municipalities.
Mike Mabuyakhulu, who co-heads the PWG with Presidency director-general Phindile Baleni, said he would not comment until they have given a report on progress made to Ramaphosa.
The Mercury