KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli has established the Premier’s Msunduzi Working Group, chaired by governance expert and former MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Ravi Pillay to turn around the crumbling infrastructure and shoddy service delivery in the municipality.
Ntuli held a meeting with Msunduzi officials on Wednesday and said his approach to the turnaround strategy for the province’s capital city was similar to the Presidential eThekwini Working Group, which President Cyril Ramaphosa launched early last year in the eThekwini Municipality.
He said the working group will aim to strengthen the provincial government’s support for Msunduzi.
“We have, however, agreed that as the provincial government, we need to enhance our support by replicating the model introduced by the president in eThekwini Metro, we are here in Msunduzi to introduce the premier’s working group,” said Ntuli.
Msunduzi had been under Section 154 intervention until last year when KZN Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi informed the national portfolio committee that the city no longer required administration.
Section 154 of the Constitution allows provincial governments to provide administrative support to struggling municipalities.
Before announcing Pillay’s team, Ntuli said he had noticed an improvement in the city’s service delivery.
“We can confirm that in particular in the center of the city, we are witnessing some of the improvements in terms of the services that are being rendered,” said Ntuli.
Pillay, who was described by Ntuli as a governance expert, will co-chair the team with provincial government director-general Dr Nonhlanhla Mkhize.
Other working group members include provincial finance head Carol Coetzee, provincial Cogta head Dr Joey Krishnan, Public Works and Infrastructure acting head Dr Vish Govender, Human Settlements head Max Mbili, Madoda Khathide, local government deputy director general, and Farhad Cassimjee, Chief Director responsible for municipal finance at the provincial treasury.
Ntuli said should this model of intervention succeed in Msunduzi, the same team would be deployed to other struggling municipalities in the province
He said most of the city’s shortcomings were due to its financial shortfall as a result of the national government cutting down the budget allocation to municipalities and Msunduzi’s debt collection failure.
“Local government is under severe stress [because of] the non-payment by those who owe the municipalities, particularly Msunduzi, including ourselves as the provincial government.
“There are debts that we have agreed that we will be addressing quite soon to ensure that we do not owe Msunduzi, so that they will be able to use the money to fast-track service delivery,” he said.
Ntuli said Msunduzi would be given service delivery technical support, which will ensure that it gets financial support.
“The Working Group terms of reference are centered around support on service delivery and compliance,” he said.
He said the team would first study reports from Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla and another developed by Cogta on how to support municipalities that are under Section 154 intervention.
He said the provincial cabinet would, after considering the reports, review the terms of reference given to Pillay’s team and thereafter come up with the final terms of reference.
“We are convinced that a Section 154 intervention and the spirit which the leadership of Msunduzi and the management have adopted, will produce a turnaround plan and we are looking forward to seeing positive results of a plan.
“The purpose of introducing the working group is to enhance our support to the municipality because that is our spirit and approach as the provincial government, that we need to strengthen the municipalities.
“Msunduzi is our capital city and it is important that we also respond to the challenges that require us as the provincial government to do something, so that they are attended to,” said Ntuli.
When contacted about the work ahead, Pillay said his team was facing “a serious and challenging responsibility”, which would require a committed and driven effort if it is to have an impact”.
He said the team would wait for the final terms of reference, which he said were an important framework.
“Until the terms of reference are finalised, I won’t say more than what I have already said,” Pillay said.
Msunduzi Economic Development Association chairperson Kantha Naidoo said for Pillay’s team to be able to turn the city around it should consult relevant stakeholders, such as residents, ratepayers associations, the business chamber, taxi associations and informal traders, instead of working in isolation.
“To turn the city around, it has to be everyone in the city that is affected,” said Naidoo.
She described the current state of the city’s untidiness as “deplorable”, and this made certain people shy away from the central business district mostly because of the crime.
“Perhaps there are streets that he (Ntuli) said improved, but what about other streets?” she said.
She complained about the lack of by-law enforcement as businesses were dumping rubbish on the streets.
“Average citizens contribute as some drive around throwing things out of their cars, people throw things out of the taxis and this blocks the drainage system.
“It should be a team effort because if you are going to have informal traders, there should be a place for them to put their waste.
She said the municipality should make sure that it employed by-law enforcement personnel who would not look away when people are breaking the law.