The Democratic Alliance (DA) in eThekwini welcomes the recent intervention by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) into the long-delayed Kennedy Road/Barton Place Housing Project.
Originally scheduled for completion in 2019 with a budget of R25 million, the project has now dragged on for six years, despite receiving an additional R18 million and a contract extension of three years. Even with these resources, the project remains unfinished, a shocking failure that underscores the ongoing housing crisis in our municipality.
This intervention follows action taken by the NCOP Chief Whip in KwaZulu-Natal, Honourable Mzamo Billy, who conducted an oversight visit and subsequently convened a meeting last week with the eThekwini Mayor and senior officials to demand accountability for the delay.
At the eThekwini Human Settlements Committee meeting on 5 May 2025, the DA called for full committee oversight of this project, a proposal that was adopted. During this meeting, it also emerged that R4 million previously allocated to the project had been removed under reprioritisation, with little to no clarity provided.
It is alarming that the same project manager responsible for this failed housing initiative is also managing the Umbhayi Housing Project, which has now been delayed for over seven years. This points to a broader systemic failure within the municipality’s Housing Unit, which continues to be plagued by poor leadership and a lack of accountability.
The DA in eThekwini will be writing to the City manager to call on the Head of Housing, Mr Lawrence Pato, to fully account for the ongoing failures in project delivery, and to explain why underperforming officials are being shielded from consequences. in this letter, the DA will call for the project manager to be fired.
With a housing backlog of over 90,000 units and growing, the ANC/EFF-led eThekwini Municipality is failing our people. The poorest and most vulnerable residents of our city are paying the price for political negligence and administrative incompetence.
The DA remains committed to fighting for the delivery of dignified housing for the people of eThekwini and will continue to hold this government accountable on behalf of our communities.