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A meeting of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) portfolio committee, held earlier this week, has led to startling revelations regarding service delivery within the Msunduzi municipality.

The findings (view here, here and here) presented to committee members by municipal officials – show that the municipality needs more than R5 billion to achieve capital electricity plans and a further R2.35 billion, just to address water-related issues such as backlogs and upgrades.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is extremely concerned by the state of the Msunduzi Municipality and the budget required to make a meaningful difference in halting the decline. Further information from officials includes the following;

- There is no call waiting or queuing facility at the municipal call centre, leading to large numbers of residents not being able to get help
- The entire Msunduzi water network is 12 times less effective than a new system
- The municipality is spending R630 000 per month on hiring 15 water tankers
- The number of burst pipes within the municipality has increased annually from 1 432 in 2008/2009 to an estimated 2 555 in 2020/2021.
- A 22.1kl water loss (2019/2020) had led to millions of Rands in financial losses
- There were 1 775 mainline sewage blockages in 2008/2009 – a figure set to increase to 4 015 in 2020/2021
- Bridge 1 to the Darville Waste Water Works requires urgent replacing to mitigate the imminent structural failure and subsequent major pollution into the Msunduzi river
- Year to date electricity losses equals 23% and;
- Most of the secondary electricity substations have obsolete or vandalised equipment while the majority of cables are old, are paper insulated, and have passed the 25-year life span

In addition to the above-mentioned challenges Msunduzi currently provides 66% of residents with free trade service (electricity and water). This is about 35 000 households. However, the city only has 5 000 households on the indigent database, which means that the municipality forfeits the Equitable Share from National Treasury which would otherwise be used to supplement these free services. Instead, the declining rates base must fork out more and more to provide free services.

Regrettably, it would seem that the DA’s concerns around the municipality are not fully shared by ANC members within the portfolio committee, who commented that “Rome was not built in a day.” While this may be the case, it is also clear that Msunduzi has been destroyed in just 21 years by ANC politicians and deployees.

Despite the many challenges faced by the city the DA would like to commend officials on trying to improve refuse collection and cleanliness, along with call centre capabilities. These interventions are welcomed and if implemented will assist in improving the lives of residents.

We also urge ANC councillors in the city to avoid reprioritising these budget requests in favour of more politically expedient items ahead of the 2021 local government elections. ANC budget priorities have a direct impact on service delivery.

A DA-led Msunduzi would prioritise basic infrastructure, customer service, cleanliness and fair revenue collection practices. The residents of Msunduzi have the opportunity to effect real change in the 2021 local government elections. The city is teetering on the edge and only good political and administrative governance and strict consequence management can turn it around.

Issued by The DA