Mthobisi Nozulela|Published
ANC eThekwini regional convenor Thabani Nyawose has pointed to water projects and investment in Durban’s central business district as efforts to improve service delivery, while opposition parties called for greater accountability and the revival of the city centre.
Speaking at the IOL Town Hall Debate on Wednesday, Nyawose highlighted projects aimed at improving water supply and a programme at Ilovu intended to help homeless people access skills development and return to their communities.
He also pointed to a Southern Sun Group expansion, which he said would involve an investment of more than R200 million and create temporary and permanent jobs.
The debate brought together representatives from several political parties ahead of the November 4 local government elections, with municipal governance, infrastructure failures and the declining state of the CBD among the main issues discussed.
Parties call for stronger accountability
Democratic Alliance (DA) representative Alicia Kissoon called for practical solutions and stronger accountability, saying parties needed to understand municipal legislation and processes to bring about change.
ActionSA’s Zwakhele Mncwango said officials who committed wrongdoing should face consequences.
“Whenever someone has done wrong, you must deal with them decisively without fear of failure,” he said.
Mncwango also proposed improving the deployment of municipal teams to respond to water outages, arguing that delays in appointing contractors slowed repairs.
Asad Gaffar of the eThekwini Ratepayers Political Movement said his organisation wanted to enter council to hold municipal officials accountable, including senior officials such as the city manager and chief financial officer.
“We would hold those officials, whether it’s a portfolio committee, whether it is the mayor, whether it is the city manager, whether it’s the CFO, it doesn’t matter,” he said.
EFF mayoral candidate Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi also called for action against municipal officials who fail to do their jobs or mistreat residents.
“All officials who are very rude, who undermine people, they are going to be removed,” she said, adding that the party would use legal processes to address such conduct.
Safety and investment key to CBD revival
The condition of the CBD also drew strong views, with candidates identifying crime, poor infrastructure, cleanliness and declining business confidence as obstacles to economic recovery.
IFP representative Selvan Govender said safety was essential to attracting investment and called for greater accountability in municipal leadership.
“You have to have servant leaders. You have to have accountability. You have to have people in the right positions to do the best job,” he said.
IOL
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