R300m too little for water, sanitation

IN A recent social media post, eThekwini Metro Municipality mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, announced that the city could confirm that a sum of R1.5 billion had been granted to the municipality for the sole purpose of fixing infrastructure that was damaged during the April 2022 floods.

We note this development after eThekwini was affected by the floods, displacing hundreds of people, leaving countless roads and bridges inaccessible, and numerous schools and infrastructure damaged.

It has regrettably taken the government a trip around the sun and to court to allocate funds to begin repairs around the municipality.

Unfortunately, we meet this development with great concern because of the R1.5bn, only R300 million will be reserved for water and sanitation.

With the current state of the infrastructure of sewer pump-stations that have been spewing incalculable litres of raw sewage into river bodies and the ocean, the allocation of R300m is absurd underfunding and demonstrates just how seriously the eThekwini mayor takes this issue.

Surviving on sewer-pump stations that were developed during the apartheid era, the fastest growing city in KwaZulu-Natal cannot afford to connect newly-developed property to sewer pipelines that have reached capacity.

Currently, there is a billion-rand project that has stalled due to the issue of sewer pipelines not being able to accommodate any developments, as the Northern Wastewater Treatment Plant, to which the project should be connected, is non-operational.

This is a blow to the people of eThekwini as this would have created job opportunities for the residents, and it would have immensely contributed to the city’s economy as well as that of the province, since eThekwini contributes over 60% to the KZN economy.

It is embarrassing that city leaders are not prioritising the needs of the city in order to accommodate the growing population.

And it is for this reason that ActionSA has taken legal action against the municipality for the interminable minimising of such atrocious conditions that will have long lasting effects on the city financially and infrastructurally.

During the last festive season, the city’s tourism took a knock as tourist numbers saw a sharp decline, meaning that not enough capital was generated by the city as we have seen during previous festive seasons, and should the leaders continue down this rabbit hole, eThekwini will run aground.

It is strange that eThekwini has failed to submit their answering affidavits to the court, detailing why it has been challenging for them to repair sewer infrastructure in the city, further demonstrating that the leadership does not appreciate the situation with all due gravity.

Unfortunately, this is not just a matter of repairing dilapidated infrastructure; the city has to begin the construction of new infrastructure.

We cannot allow eThekwini to rot any further under the rule of the ANC, EFF and the NFP coalition.

It is a blow for the people of eThekwini who have collectively removed the ANC from power, to have parties such as the EFF and NFP take away that power from the people and hand it to the ANC to further deteriorate the living conditions of the residents of eThekwini.

ZWAKELE MNCWANGO ActionSA KZN provincial

chairperson