DA calls for eThekwini municipality to be placed under administration
29 April 2019
During today’s Executive Committee meeting in eThekwini, DA Caucus Leader Councillor Nicole Graham will be posing questions to Mayor Zandile Gumede and City Manager Sipho Nzuza on the state of the water department.
Mayor Gumede and Mr Nzuza must provide timelines into resolving the water crisis and bring an end to the strike that is taking place.
The current strike by ethekwini Water employees is straining a number of communities who have gone for days without water. The current strike, fueled by the city officials flouting the HR process in order to hire uMkhonto weSizwe veterans is an indication of an uncaring and selfish government, riddled with corruption. The hiring of MK veterans led to general staff being paid more than their senior counterparts, an issue union leaders called to be resolved, and were ignored.
EThekwini Municipality under the poor leadership of Mayor Zandile has created a lawless city. Her leadership saw the birth of Amadela Ngokubona who were hell-bent on undermining supply chain processes.
Today we have MK veterans demanding higher paying jobs, without any HR processes being followed.
The DA supports the call for an inclusive and dynamic workforce, but at the centre of it must be the rule of law. The call by union leaders for fair Human Resource processes is one we support.
We further call on MEC for CoGTA Nomusa Dube to intervene by instituting Section 139(1)b administration as provided for in the South African constitution. If we allow for the status quo to remain, there will be no city to govern, a stagnant economy and eventually a state of anarchy.
It must be noted that a number of families are suffering from the recent floods which in turn damaged a lot of water infrastructure. We call for an amicable solution for the interest of residents. The City must move forward and have its priorities straight, which is to deliver on basic services.
EThekwini Municipality has the potential to become a world-class city. Corruption has not only deteriorated the city’s infrastructure but has collapsed a number of departments, such as the water department. The fight is for an effective turnaround strategy, one that cannot be implemented by the current leadership who have been tainted by cronyism and corruption.
The DA’s commitment to the electorate is that we will address the matter of corruption and clean out such elements. We will fight for a vibrant and condusive economy that will create jobs, and ensure that we provide quality basic services to all.
Issued by Zwakele Mncwango, DA KZN Premier Candidate, 29 April 2019
