City fed up with crime, grime
A JOINT task team of organised business and Kwazulu-natal provincial government has been formed to counter the scourge of rampant crime, including armed heists, hijackings, political killings and associated corruption.
The initiative is viewed as a final attempt by top local business leaders to salvage national and international business confidence.
The task team, still to be named, follows a “breakthrough meeting” held behind closed doors at the Garden Court umhlanga on Friday.
Chamber president Musa Makhunga said organised business was united in its objective to restore investor confidence.
“We are encouraged by the commitment shown by government and business to collaborate and co-operate. We had no option but to make the call on government to see how we, as organised business, could play a role in solving the current challenges.”
It was a “frank and robust, no holds barred” meeting, with business citing the multimillion-rand losses incurred in the manufacturing, tourism and construction industries.
Business leaders also gave authentic accounts of their efforts to achieve transformation, impressing on the government that if investors pulled out of the province, joblessness and poverty would soar.
“The premier accepted the province was under attack and would take the necessary steps for urgent intervention. That’s a good sign.
“We now have to act speedily to end the lawlessness affecting our economy,” said Minara Chamber of Commerce president Solly Suliman.
Premier Willies Mchunu chaired the meeting and was accompanied by the MEC of Local Government, Community Safety and Liaison, Mxolisi Kaunda, and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nomusa Dube-ncube, ethekwini mayor Zandile Gumede and newly appointed metro police head Steve Middleton.
“The forging of a working relationship between government and business is essentially aimed at maintaining our status as a province as a gateway to Africa and the world as enshrined in our 2035 vision.”
The task team, to be led by Makhunga and business with infrastructure support from the premier’s office and oversight by director-general Nonhlanhla Mkhize, would sit immediately to chart a way forward.
“It was a constructive dialogue. Key among the achievements was the groundbreaking decision to establish a joint task team with resources from both business and government.
“There is unity in the message that law and order must be promoted, that the principles of community engagement must be in line with capacitating real communities in need,” said Zeph Ndlovu, president of the SA Chambers of Commerce and Industry and board member of the Durban Chamber of Commerce.
Among concerns raised by business were the N3 Mooi River toll gate truck torchings and disruption of traffic; violence and damage at Moses Mabhida Stadium with devastating results for tourism; construction site invasions, extortion and rising tensions in townships between local and refugee traders; the mosque attack in Verulam; political assassinations and port blockades.
Political economist Israel Mkhize said the initiative must be seen as “business wanting to catch up with the national mood of the new dawn”, referring to the positive sentiment over Cyril Ramaphosa’s election as president of the country.
Electoral Commission officer Mawethu Mosery welcomed the initiative, saying all efforts were needed to create a stable environment in the run-up to next year’s general elections.