My city is in ruin

AN OPEN letter to the mayor, acting city manager and the eThekwini Municipality

I ADDRESS my correspondence to you two gentleman as the senior city fathers.

The eThekwini Municipality and particularly the city of Durban is being run to the ground for a long time, by utter incompetence and embarrassing leadership.

One only has to drive through some of the suburbs to get a real picture of the horrible quality the eThekwini Municipality has degenerated into.

Deteriorating and poorly marked roads, unkempt verges, overgrown trees, poorly lit streets and the list goes on.

It reflects the downward spiral this municipality is undergoing.

Let me be clear: the people, the hard-working ratepayers, are at the end of their tether.

To compound matters, the constant disruptions with regard to water and electricity supply (not due to load shedding), is not only an inconvenience and an annoyance, but it is also a costly affair to a struggling community trying to make ends meet in a difficult economy.

Repairs undertaken to restore water supplies become temporary and no sooner is a problem fixed, then there is another burst pipe elsewhere in the area that takes residents back to ground zero yet again.

This is not only unacceptable, but intolerable.

Are contractors employed by the municipality competent enough to carry out their functions efficiently, ensuring that there is no recurrence of the problem or are certain contractors awarded work on a pal-to-pal basis, even if their competency is unworthy of such a contract?

What oversight does exco have in terms of assessing the quality of workmanship that is out there, and if any, what action is being taken?

Barring some of the so-called elite or upmarket areas, the rest of the municipality is becoming a patent disgrace to all of us as citizens – and you as elected leadership bear the responsibility for improvement and/ or immediate correction.

My correspondence serves merely to beat swords with ploughshares and is not intended as a threat but a severe caution that should immediate remedies not be put in place, then the people are going to speak – and I intend leading the chorus, as I too am at the end of my tether.

The groundswell of anger and resentment that initially was a tiny ripple is now fast reaching tidal wave proportions – and this could spell disaster for all and sundry.

As the chair of a civic association, I am a breath away in calling for rolling mass action that will ultimately transform into a defiance campaign of withholding payment for utilities until we are guaranteed actionable and realisable service delivery that is not only satisfactory, but also that is commensurate with what we pay for.

Do not underestimate the power of the purse.

The people may suffer for a while and be unduly inconvenienced should there be a boycott of payments of rates and utilities, but it is the only way we know how to speak from here.

The millstone around your necks will become the proverbial noose as we, the people, will act.

It was once touted that the city of Durban will be “the most liveable city by 2030”.

That had to be a bad April Fool’s joke by whoever dreamt such a fallacy, in my candid opinion.

You have been put on terms – should you not act decisively and fast, then the people will act. I trust that you gentleman will no longer be outliers and will serve the people’s needs without excuses.

I await a favourable reply albeit in hope rather than expectation.