As the leadership of eThekwini Municipality, we would like to take this opportunity to join millions of people of KwaZulu-Natal in congratulating the newly appointed Premier of our province, Nomusa Dube-Ncube and her Executive Council. 

We want to assure eThekwini residents that we will be working closely with the Provincial Executive Council to fast track service delivery and to stimulate economic growth in the City. Collaboration among all spheres of government is critical in unlocking the economic potential of the City, particularly in the implementation of major catalytic projects such as the Shongweni Urban Development which was unveiled recently. As the City, we pride ourselves on this R30 billion mixed-used development. The R2.5 billion phase 1a that was launched last week encompasses a mall, new hospital, residential apartments, and commercial properties. 

For the nine phases of the project, the City has allocated R3 billion for bulk infrastructure. The development, once complete, will contribute R300 million to the annual revenue of the Municipality and create 30 000 jobs. In October this year, we will be unveiling a new mall which forms part of the phase two of the uMhlanga Oceans Development. Last week, we conducted an oversight visit to this R4.2 billion development and we were satisfied with the progress the developer is making to finalise this project. As the City, we are working hard to restore basic services to communities that were affected by the recent floods. 11 July marked the first month since we introduced a contractor to commence with the repairs of the oThongathi Water treatment Works which was washed away by the April floods. Last week, we conducted an oversight visit to the plant to assess the progress made with repairs. We are pleased that currently the repairs to the plant are at 15 percent complete. 

We are confident that this work will be completed by the end of October and will allow for the full restoration of water supply in affected areas in oThongathi. The plant has been stabilised and work has begun on the new power station that will assist with pumping water from the plant to more than five reservoirs that are supplied by this treatment plant. On 16 August the Auditor-General visited the plant to ascertain if there is value for money for the work that is being undertaken. We are please that since the construction started, no work stoppages have been reported. We want to commend all stakeholders involved in this project for their commitment in ensuring that the repairs are finalised speedily. It would be remiss of me to not provide the people of eThekwini with an update about the impending appointment of the new City Manager. We would like to confirm that the process to appoint the City Manager is nearing completion as the interviews were concluded more than a week ago. 

A screening process was conducted for all 17 shortlisted candidates as required. The next step is to finalise competency assessments. Once the panel has concluded all the steps in the process a report will be presented to the Executive Committee (Exco) and Council. We want to assure the people of eThekwini that we are conducting this process with the urgency and the thoroughness it deserves.