MAYOR UPDATES UMNGENI RESIDENTS ON MUNICIPAL ISSUES
The biggest challenge facing uMngeni Municipality is the repair and maintenance of roads and storm water drains.
Mayor, Councillor Chris Pappas, apologised for the slow pace in the roads programme, saying that the backlog was due in a large part to the heavy rains which have fallen in the Midlands.
“The continuous rain is imposing serious challenges. We cannot repair roads in the rain,” he added. “Secondly, the high volumes of rain, saturated soils and old storm water systems contribute to faster deterioration of the existing roads.
“The storm water system in many areas is blocked, collapsed, old or does not exist. This means that the base layers of the roads become compromised and the lifespan of the road deteriorates.
“Many of the roads in the municipality have not been built with strong foundations. This means that when we begin to do repairs we find that the scope of work must increase due to having to rebuild foundations or sub-soil drainage.”
Pappas said that, in the future, they would do more roadworks in the winter months.
The municipality was also planning to increase the amount of money budgeted for roads in the 2023/2024 budget.
“Our focus is on ensuring that main routes and secondary roads are maintained in a good condition and then moving to systematically address potholes and complete resurfacing,” he added.
Speaking about the delay in completing the work in Dicks Street he said it had been caused by the lack of maps and building plans to show where the electricity, fibre, water and sewer lines were, coupled with the heavy rain.
“This is a road where it should have been a simple resurface, like Amber Avenue, however, it was discovered that the sub-soil was red clay and not G-based material [which is used as filling and a base coarse under roads and paving],” Pappas said.
Turning to waste management in uMngeni, the mayor said the municipality was busy restructuring the department and cutting the massive overtime bill.
“This may lead to some delays and backlogs as the system adjusts to the new work schedule and restrictions,” Pappas added. “Part of this includes closure of the recycling facility on Sundays. We apologise in advance for any disruptions, [but] it is necessary for us to seriously look at overtime.”
The landfill site has been transferred from the waste sub-directorate to the infrastructure and public works directorate to cope with the engineering demands needed to maintain the site.
uMngeni is also looking at undertaking its own upgrade at the Howick Falls as the uMgungundlovu District Development Agency (UMEDA), which was appointed to oversee improvements, using the R5 million made available by the provincial government, has not done any work in the area.
“The project is now close to two years overdue,” Pappas said. “The uMngeni council is very worried that once again UMEDA will fail to complete the project by June 2023.”
The mayor said the Falls precinct was getting regular maintenance but drug addicts continue to pose a challenge to the local authority.
“This is being addressed with the SAPS at a regional level because the SAPS locally has failed to deliver,” he added. “We recently cleared the bush golf site and we are waiting for AMAFA approval in order to continue with redevelopment of that site.”
Delays have also meant that the implementation of the Hilton electricity service level agreement (SLA) is taking longer than uMngeni would like.
“We have broken down the SLA into a number of different components including credit control, service standards, streetlights, etc.
“With regards to Hilton electricity as a whole, we are at a stage now where Msunduzi is in agreement that a transfer of infrastructure must take place. However, we must breakdown the costs associated with the infrastructure and operations.
“We are also exploring funding opportunities with the Development Bank of South Africa.”
Electricity theft and loss is still a big problem in uMngeni, with R19 million lost since July 2022.
“We have made some strides in reducing year on year losses,” said Pappas. “We will never reduce our losses to zero due to the normal technical losses that occur, however, we will continue to work to cut illegal usage.
“Some of our interventions may not be popular but are necessary if the municipality is to deliver services in a sustainable manner.”
uMngeni is also taking steps to reduce the amount of money owed to it, which is around R250 million.
Pappas said they were working on an agreement with both Eskom and Msunduzi Municipality to disconnect customers that owe money for rates and services in their supply areas. They are also planning to sell off their debtors book.
Account holders are encouraged to come forward and make arrangements with the municipality to settle outstanding accounts.
The mayor stressed, however, that progress was being made. The municipality has procured R20 million worth of specialised equipment to maintain the landfill site and build roads and it is ahead of schedule in terms of expenditure of its municipal infrastructure grant. This means that uMngeni is eligible for a top up of additional funds.
The municipality has improved its audit outcome from qualified to unqualified, which means that the Auditor General of South Africa believes they are managing the finances well and have improved control of the budget.
More poor and vulnerable households are receiving subsidised basic services and more than 100 employment opportunities have been created.
Vacancies have been filled building capacity in the municipality and the grass cutting programme has been successfully implemented.
The traffic department has vehicles at its disposal, which has meant increased visibility from Nottingham Road all the way to Hilton.