DA vows to put eThekwini under administration if it wins KZN in 2024

11 October 2023 - 17:42
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The DA's Dean Macpherson on an oversight visit to Chatsworth, whose residents say their cries for help have fallen on deaf ears.
The DA's Dean Macpherson on an oversight visit to Chatsworth, whose residents say their cries for help have fallen on deaf ears.
Image: Sandile Ndlovu

The DA's first order of business if elected in KwaZulu-Natal in 2024 will be to place the eThekwini metro under administration, the party said on Wednesday. 

This after provincial chairperson Dean Macpherson led an oversight visit to Havenside in Chatsworth, where residents have lived with the smell of sewage for three years.

“In summer it is unbearably worse. You cannot open your windows or doors because of the smell. For three years we have had to put up with this smell and spend thousands to mitigate the impact,” resident George Naidoo said.  

“We [the community] put together R15,000 to excavate the stagnant part [of the stream] so water can flow because it all collects behind our houses. 

“Now the sewage flows with the stream water and while there is no blockage causing stagnation, we still cannot escape the smell.”

The area's ward councillor, Ganas Govender, said reports to the municipality over the past three years have fallen on deaf ears.

“All we are asking is for the municipality to intervene, find a solution and resolve the problem because we can't continue living like this. The elderly and children are getting sick,” Govender said.

“These are ratepayers. They contribute to municipal funds via payment of rates. They are not asking for something they don't contribute towards. All they ask for is the municipality to provide the service they pay rates for.”

The findings of the visit to Havenside will form part of a dossier the DA plans to use to demonstrate municipal failings under the ANC. 

“We are going to observe the worst examples of infrastructure failure [that the municipality has not prioritised for repair],” said Macpherson.  

“When our councillors raise these things they are told there is no money, but the ANC and EFF always find money for parties.”

The DA’s oversight visits will be conducted over two weeks in all eight metros.

“We are working towards a programme of government from next year after the elections. We know that between the DA and the IFP we are polling 4% higher than the ANC and the EFF,” Macpherson added. 

TimesLIVE


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