eThekwini Municipality - Mayor Zandile Gumede’s 30 days service delivery report to the people of eThekwini RSS eThekwini Municipality - Mayor Zandile Gumede’s 30 days service delivery report to the people of eThekwini2016-09-21 EThekwini Municipality’s newly elected Council leadership is taking bold steps to deliver high quality services, create jobs and root out corruption across all levels in the City.
We have a futuristic vision of our City, which involves using modern technology to fast track service delivery. Mayor Zandile Gumede today, 21 September officially launched the WhatsApp Water Reporting line - telephone number 073 148 3477. The line will provide a platform for the community and business to report all water-related issues, anytime and anywhere, using their phones. “We made it clear from day one that we will work around the clock to create a City that our ratepayers and the community at large can be proud of,†said Gumede. Just days after her appointment as eThekwini’s first citizen, Gumede met with the top 400 senior municipal officials, including the City Manager and Deputy City Managers. The aim of the meeting was to instil a sense of urgency for our service delivery programme and align all our interventions with the City’s Integrated Development Plan, said Gumede. Today, also marks the first 30 days since the 5th eThekwini Municipal Council was inaugurated on 23 August 2016 and the wheels of the City’s service delivery achievements keep on turning. Housing delivery To ensure that our people live in dignity, especially in previously disadvantaged areas, since assuming office, the City has built 588 new houses, 132 houses built before 994 have been refurbished and 38 rental stock has been transferred to residents. Council has approved an allocation guideline which aims to address informal settlement overcrowding among other key objectives. This will also ensure that the process of selecting rightful beneficiaries is transparent and fair. As a caring City, we prioritise the provision of basic services, such as housing, to ensure all people residing in eThekwini enjoy an improved quality of life. Municipal By-law enforcement Our Metro Police Unit, in an ongoing city-wide operation to clamp down on illegal activities, has issued 19274 fines for various traffic offences and 1536 warrants of arrests. For contravening Municipal by-laws such as the Informal Trading By-law, Nuisance and Behavior in Public Places By-Law and Beaches By-law, a total of 6344 fines were issued. With regards to building without obtaining the necessary approvals, 59 fines were issued across the Municipal area. The Municipality will continue to ensure that all those that continue to break the law are brought to book. Furthermore, a Multi Operational Response Team Unit has been established within Metro Police and this has resulted in improved response time to reports of land invasion threats, service delivery threats and possible invasions of major installations. Clamp down on derelict buildings To eradicate filth in and around the streets of Durban, as well clean-up buildings that are illegally occupied and have deteriorated into notorious hubs for prostitution and criminals, 27 notices have been served on owners who run derelict buildings. A Joint operation was conducted on 12 rundown buildings resulting in the arrest of three suspects who were in possession of drugs and 13 people who are in the country without proper documentation. Two derelict buildings have been profiled and law enforcement authorities will soon pounce on the owners of these buildings. A property in Carlisle Street where storage containers were used for illegal accommodation has now been removed. The premises are in the process of being closed down. Another joint law enforcement operation is set for Thursday, 22 September. The end result is a complete shutdown of these illegal buildings and operations. The joint operations team will continue to crack down on such offenders. Provision of Water and Sanitation We will continue to prioritise the provision of water and sanitation to all our residents and respond to the needs of the poorest of the poor. From August to-date, 578 customers have been connected to water. The Municipality is currently signing a service delivery agreement with the Department of Education to address the Water and Sanitation challenges in schools. Discussions are underway with the Department of Science and Technology, South African Local Government Association and EThekwini Water and Sanitation to sign a Memorandum of Understanding regarding testing innovative sanitation technology which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The maintenance of ablution facilities in the City is in progress. Electricity provision The Municipality provides 65 kilowatts per hour of free electricity monthly to more than 92 000 needy people in rural areas. The numbers of people who are connected to the grid continues to steadily increase. From August to-date, 1076 new prepaid residential customers have been connected to the electricity grid and a further 73 new credit residential customers have been connected to the grid. Oversight committee chairs With the appointment of the new oversight committee chairs to spearhead the City’s development plans, it’s now all hands on deck. Councillors have been working tirelessly around the clock, fast-tracking service delivery since the inauguration on 23 August and will continue to closely monitor the City’s service delivery programme to ensure that we deliver on our mandate. Lastly, one of our key priorities is really building a City that draws investors and tourists. EThekwini is the economic hub of KwaZulu-Natal and the establishment of a crack team to focus on critical interventions is guaranteed to set our City on an upward trajectory. We are a City in motion and call on each and every person in eThekwini to not only be champions of change but also take an active interest in our City. Working together we can achieve far greater things. ENDS Issued by eThekwini Municipality’s Communications Head, Tozi Mthethwa. For more information members of the media can contact Gugu Sisilana on 031 311 4855 or email: gugu.mbonambi@durban.gov.za or Princess Nkabane on 031 311 4818 or princess.nkabane@durban.gov.za |
eThekwini Municipality - Mayor Zandile Gumede’s 30 days service delivery report to the people of eThekwini
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