Premier promises plan of action for PMB
The business community in Pietermaritzburg has welcomed the announcement by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala that the provincial government will work with all stakeholders to fix the challenges and rebuild and reposition Msunduzi municipality to its rightful position as the City of Choice.
Speaking after the first meeting with the political and administrative leadership of the municipality, and then with the business community, Zikalala said that they are extremely concerned about the view that the municipality is failing.
“We believe that it is now enough with the challenges that are caused by people who are simply not doing their work.
“This city can no longer afford administrative inefficiencies and a culture of impunity where people do not account for what they are employed to do. We are now taking drastic actions to be here and operational in this municipality to bring to an end the woes facing this municipality.
“We want to focus on solutions to every challenge and we need clear timelines. We need to turn around the economy of this capital city. We have tasked the stakeholders to introduce with the turnaround plan per each area of challenge. This will be made available before the end of April,” said Zikalala.
On the issue of electricity challenges, Zikalala said the MECs for Cogta and Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) will assign a team to convene a meeting with Eskom to prepare a final report on the electricity situation and finalise the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the municipality and Eskom.
With regard to the water woes experienced by residents, Zikalala said the municipality will present on the state of water, what the actual problems are and what interventions the municipality will implement to ensure that capacity is upscaled in those areas.
Zikalala praised the Deputy Mayor of Msunduzi, Mxolisi Mkhize, for leading the fight against crime and grime, and encouraged everyone to build on it. “We have resolved to further engage with the municipality in three weeks. We will also be back in three months to assess the road travelled,” said Zikalala.
“Pietermaritzburg must be our future, no-one should feel the pressure to leave, and we must build it together,” the premier said.