Metro bonuses an insult
THE eThekwini Metro Municipality’s decision to set aside R71 million for junior staff bonuses is absurd considering the laundry list of urgent interventions the city needs.
Not only is this decision shocking, but it is an insult to the people of eThekwini who continue to languish in substandard service delivery if they receive services at all.
The April flood victims are yet to receive proper housing from the municipality a full eight months later while damaged infrastructure continues to contaminate our beaches and rivers with raw sewage.
In typical ANC fashion, the metro has proclaimed its commitment to fixing infrastructure and rehabilitating the city from the floods and July unrest. However, the city leadership’s actual commitment is to self-enrichment.
To add insult to injury, eThekwini’s council has recommended that the executive committee (exco) take out a R1.5 billion loan of which only R60m is likely to be allocated to sanitation.
A measly 4% allocation to address this crisis.
This development makes it even clearer why eThekwini needs new leadership. It is outrageous that bonuses are likely to end up costing R11m more than fixing decrepit sanitation infrastructure in the city.
ActionSA believes that the city did not plan their budget allocation appropriately, therefore we recommend that city leaders go back to their drawing board and propose a more appropriate plan that will not only benefit a handful of city staff but will benefit the whole city.
It is an embarrassment that city leaders have failed to make sound decisions on pressing matters such as this, which speaks volumes about their prioritisation of issues.
We believe that not a lot of thought has gone into making this decision, which is unfortunate for the people of eThekwini, as they have been failed once more.
ActionSA will continue to fight for the residents of eThekwini and stakeholders who have been affected by the wilful disregard of this ANC city government.
ZWAKELE MNCWANGO
ActionSA KwaZulu-Natal chairperson