We are all aware of the numerous challenges faced by KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) municipalities, with some failing to provide much needed basic services to our communities. We are aware of the frustrations of our province’s residents, particularly within the eThekwini metro. Collectively, they have directed our new provincial government of unity (GPU) to work together and collaborate towards building a better KZN for them, through enhancing basic service delivery.
Enhancing basic service delivery is the foundation required for a better life for all our people. It is the key to addressing inequality and poverty. Without an environment that is supportive of local economic growth and foreign direct investment, our people have no hope of a future of economic freedom or dignified living.
The shocking reality is that poor or non-existent service delivery is a reality, not just in rural municipalities but also in Msunduzi, the home of our capital city, and in the eThekwini metro – KZN’s economic hub. The reality is that if eThekwini fails, KZN fails.
Raw sewerage flowing down streets and into rivers, endless electricity outages, taps running dry for weeks, months and even years, elderly having to carry heavy buckets of water from tankers to their homes, boreholes running dry, and people forced into the indignity of drinking water from the same utensils as animals. The situation on the ground is dire.
KZN’s people have suffered much and continue to suffer. They have petitioned, protested and voted. Now they are looking to our GPU in hope and anticipation of change and a better life – one where they have basic services, the dignity of a job and being able to put food on the table and one where their families are safe.
KZN’s GPU must lead courageously and make the difficult decisions that will lead to a turnaround in municipalities that require it. CoGTA must never be a weaponized tool, used to settle political scores. Instead, it must be work with all municipalities equally, empowering, improving and building a better province for all. Municipalities under administration must not remain in this state for years. There must be ongoing, regular updates and assessment of progress or lack thereof. Otherwise, this critical municipal intervention tool becomes a mockery due to ineffectiveness. Administrators must be politically neutral and suitably skilled and qualified to ensure value for every rand spent.
It was encouraging to see KZN CoGTA MEC, Reverend Buthelezi’s prompt reassurance to Umdoni residents recently, when he intervened so that basic service delivery was restored. The DA also applauds the MEC for meeting with the eThekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement last week and the commitment he has made to finding practical solutions that will work in the interest of ratepayers through engaging with the mayor, other parties and stakeholders.
eThekwini is in a critical state and requires immediate intervention but for as long as the current city manager and officials remain in place, there is no hope of change. The extent of the disastrous state of our metro cannot be over-emphasized. The DA has long called for KZN’s CoGTA MECs to intervene and implement Section 139 of the Constitution, placing eThekwini under provincial administration.
The DA remains steadfast in its commitment to fight corruption, champion good governance and fight on behalf of all residents for the delivery of good quality services. As part of the GPU, we will applaud the MEC and his department’s efforts and work to find solutions but we will also hold them to account.
Budget cuts have resulted in KZN’s CoGTA department scaling down on some water and electricity infrastructure support programmes and has impacted the Corridor Development and Small-Town rehabilitation programmes. The infrastructure budget has decreased from a R125million in 2023/24 to R67million in 2024/25 – an almost 46% decrease. And then – against the backdrop of inflation – there is a 42% decrease in the infrastructure maintenance budget, which has dropped from R17.251million to just R10million.
The President has outlined infrastructure development as a key priority of the 7th administration and KZN’s Premier has outlined inclusive economic growth and job creation as part of the 7th administration’s programme of action. It is clear that without adequate infrastructure, the goals of economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation will be near impossible to achieve.
It is therefore vital that the budget needed for infrastructure is identified and reprioritized. CoGTA will have to maintain fiscal discipline and ensure that there is no unauthorized, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. The DA welcomes the MEC’s plan to perform an audit on all traditional leaders to ascertain who should be on the payroll and who should not. This will hopefully provide savings that can be reprioritized toward infrastructure development and maintenance.
The purpose of Programme 4 is to support and enhance the capacity of Traditional councils. It is therefore imperative that the R35million budgeted for Izinduna backpay stipends in the 2023/24 financial year be spent on them sooner rather than later. Outstanding legal processes must also be finalized as must the matter of the outstanding Traditional Council elections and the dispute surrounding the formula gazetted. The Traditional Leaders institution is apolitical and as politicians we must respect and protect their right to remain so.
KZN’s Disaster Management Centre (DMC) is another area needing urgent attention. Recently, the DA established that the facility was only operating at around 50% capacity, with 17 out of 35 posts vacant, 13 of which are classified as critical.
The DA is saddened by the deaths of 14 people who lost their lives in the recent KZN veld fires and our thoughts and prayers go out to their loved ones. These brave men and women paid with their lives to save communities. KZN’s GPU owes it to them and their families to investigate what could have been done to avoid this tragic loss of life and to implement change in order to prevent the future loss of lives.
KZN is a province with more than its fair share of natural disasters including floods, tornadoes, fires and even the threat of a total blackout. Government must be prepared. KZN’s DMC is supposed to be the nerve centre for all operations relating to such incidents. That it remains under-funded and under-staffed is a serious concern as is the fact that several KZN municipal disaster centres are also underfunded and inadequate.
That newly installed CoGTA MEC Reverend Buthelezi – together with the Premier and other MECs – were on the ground following recent fires is evidence that the GPU cares about the safety of KZN residents. The DA is committed to ensuring that KZN’s DMC is brought up to a world class standard, similar to that of the DA-led Western Cape DMC. We must ensure the safety of all KZN residents, particularly the most vulnerable.
The DA has long called for a roundtable discussion with various parties and stakeholders to address the issue of political killings. We are pleased that our consistency in highlighting this issue – along with KZN’s soaring crime rates – has now borne fruit with the Premier’s recent crime summit and his commitment to fighting crime. The DA will never stop fighting for the safety of KZN’s residents, particularly elected councillors who should be able to focus on serving their communities freely, rather than looking over their shoulders.
CoGTA has a lot to accomplish, with a reduced budget, but it is possible. Amidst the many dysfunctional municipalities in KZN, there is one shining example for us to learn from and emulate – the DA-led uMngeni Municipality. On 31 October 2019, the DA took over uMngeni Since then, it has managed to become debt free and deliver services through sound financial management. The municipality spent 100% of its Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) and subsequently received an increased budget – unlike eThekweni municipality which returned more than R300million in grants back to National Treasury.
uMngeni municipality has proven that change for the better is possible, that we can improve the lives of our people. As the GPU, we must work hard and focus on rebuilding our province. We owe it to the people of KZN.