All the very best for 2003!

Welcome to 2003! I pray that it brings everyone much joy and happiness and that as a municipality we continue to grow.

In my first newsletter of 2003 let me review some of the 'big' issues which occupied my attention over the past six months:

1.  SAMWU strike: This strike affected all of us and most especially embarrassed our President, country and continent in the way some elements trashed our city and destroyed property. For me, workers were the real victims. Within three days of the strike it was already clear that workers would lose more than they might gain from any increases. For example, it will take workers some 5 years of receiving the new wage increases to simply cover the wages they lost during the strike itself. It is incumbent on all of us to promote our constitutional democracy.

2. Restructuring of Durban Transport: In the past three months more has been done with regard to the restructuring of Durban Transport than in the previous five years. A Steering Committee including the province and ourselves is driving the process and we hope that in the first three months of 2003 we will have largely wrapped up the process, allowing eThekwini to assume its rightful place as the transport authority for the municipality as a whole. Some incorrect decisions had been made previously, but we are largely over that period now and we are confident that we are moving into a building phase.

3. Changes in the management set-up: The appointment of top management in eThekwini will bring much-needed stability to eThekwini. Not only do we have a far more representative team, but their diverse skills and experiences will undoubtedly assist us in restructuring the municipality to meet the challenges ahead.

Early in 2003 we hope to finalise the process through which the rest of the municipality will be restructured allowing us to become far more efficient, effective and economic in executing our mandate.

4. Steady payment for rates, water and lights: eThekwini can proudly say that it is continuing it's very good track record in ensuring that those who can afford to pay for services, do indeed pay for services. Only a very small proportion of persons do not pay for services and we are finding new and improved ways to assist even the very poor. We will continue being tough on those who wish to hide behind the poor and not pay for services which they consume.

5. Adoption of the Integrated Development Plan: At its last Council meeting the eThekwini IDP was adopted. This document will guide all our programmes and while we will continually update and revise it, everything we do will be driven by the objectives set by it. Our performance will be measured in terms of the outcomes set in the IDP so please keep watching this space! It will not be business as usual anymore!

6. Driving delivery, delivery and more delivery: The Mayor, Speaker, EXCOmembers and councillors have all shown that their first priority is to ensure that we deliver what the people of eThekwini expect from us. As their employees, this means keeping delivery, customer service and commitment to our work as our key priorities.

In the next newsletter I will outline some of the objectives I am setting for our administration for the next six months.

EXCO Decisions of 3 December 2002 continued

1. PREPARATION OF ETHEKWINI RURAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK PLAN: Over the next few months a framework development plan is being prepared to guide and direct development in the more rural parts of eThekwini metropolitan area. Not only must the plan assist us in improving the quality of life of people in rural areas, but must ensure the sustainable use of resources, empower women in development, provide security of tenure and address poverty and HIV/AIDS.

2. SOUTHERN BASIN AREA-BASEDMANAGEMENT: As one of our five area-based learning areas, the Southern Basin is probably the most critical. Not only must we ensure that we improve the infrastructure for business in the area, but we must address the terrible neglect people living in these areas have suffered dueto apartheid governments. The Regeneration project has been going for some two years and in the next year its operations will markedly expand. EXCO agreed to make funds available for the operating costs of this programme.

3. CAPITAL PROGRAMME: EXCO have approved over 90%of the capital programme for 2002/2003. We have now geared ourselves for a massive delivery roll-out.

4. TENDER APPROVALS: More than 200 pages of tenders were approved by EXCO!

Did you know

During the Christmas season we have employed an extra 70 persons per day to pick up garbage. From 15-30 December we have picked up over 170 tons of garbage on the beachfront alone.

For the same period we pick up about 5 tons on the Victoria Embankment.We work three shifts a day ensuring that around the clock we are keeping the city clean. At the same time, let's ensure we educate all about the importance of a cleaner city!