The eThekwini Municipality has performed well over the last financial year reinforcing that the city are one of the best run in the country. The National Treasury, in an engagement with city officials yesterday, confirmed that eThekwini Municipality’s budget is best in the country.

 

The information on the city’s service delivery performance is contained in the Annual Report which is a reflection of the City’s performance over the last financial year. It gives a detailed account of service delivery achievements, challenges and consolidated annual financial statements and is open for comment until 28 February.

 

The city shared the report with business stakeholders at the ICC this morning, 15 February, as part of its consultation process.

 

City Manager, Sipho Nzuza said the City has delivered houses, electrified homes and brought life giving water to residents despite numerous challenges, like the work stoppages by business forums, aging infrastructure, illegal connections and rapid urbanisation.

 

He reassured business that the city sees the findings of the auditor general in a very serious light and will put in place stricter measures of control over consequence management. “Today’s engagement as a step towards seeking and outlining solutions that will improve service delivery and create a conducive environment for both our residents and you the drivers of our economy. The engagement gives us confidence that we will be stronger partners to move this City forward,” he said adding that the private sector is a key stakeholder to help the city execute its mandate of growing our City’s economy, creating jobs and ensuring a better life for all people in eThekwini.

 

Some of the highlights of the Annual Report indicate that the Municipality has delivered to the poorest of the poor. The city has successfully electrified 103 358 indigent homes located in informal settlements through a robust Informal Settlement Electrification Programme. The Human Settlements Unit was once again recognized at the 2017 KZN Govan Mbeki awards as they delivered more than their targets.

 

EThekwini has delivered 4364 new houses and 46 family units. More than 300 hectares of land has been acquired for new development.

 

Two new social housing projects Hamptons and Hilltop in Ward 65, opened for occupation during 2017/2018 in partnership with Social Housing Institutions. These two projects add an additional 300 affordable rental opportunities for households whose combined income is between R3 500 and Rl5 000.

 

The gap housing programme has resolved some outstanding challenges which were preventing the issuing of certificates of occupation.

 

This has enabled the reporting of units built in previous years as well as the houses built during 2017/18. Hence the target of 100 units for 2017/18 was exceeded, with 196 affordable housing opportunities created for the gap market.

 

In terms of incremental informal settlement upgrading, 6 299 households benefitted from the rollout of improved roads, footpaths and storm water control.

 

The drought and water loss posed a major challenge for the City in ensuring water delivery to communities, however, potable water is delivered to 99.38% of households including households in informal areas.

 

The City also supplies electricity to more than 745 000 customers covering square 2000kms and a weekly refuse removal service is provided to 1 039 220 households, including 443 387 households in informal settlements.

 

Finance

 

The report shows that eThekwini Municipality is in a strong financial position underpinned by the excellent collection rate (92%), growth in revenue of 6,9%, low gearing, stable debt and strong liquidity. The City has also managed to maintain its investment grade credit rating at AA+ in the long term and maintained a rating of A1+ in the short term with a stable outlook.

 

The Municipality continued its impressive track record in terms of service delivery with a capital spend of R4.7 billion. Delays in awarding the contract for the Northern Aqueduct and other contracts, poor performance from emerging contractors, legal challenges, appeals processes, work stoppages and business forum challenges resulted in slower spend than expected. The city has put in place measures to mitigate these challenges moving forward.

 

The production of the Annual Report is a legal obligation in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act. In the interests of transparency and accountability, the Municipality has an obligation to allow the public an opportunity to comment on the Annual Report before it is adopted by Council.

 

The Annual Report is now open for public comment and the Municipality is calling on the public to make their representations. Comments received from this process also inform the Integrated Development Plan and the budgets for the upcoming financial years.

 

A public meeting to discuss the Annual Report is being held at the City Hall on 26 February at 10am. All interested parties are invited to attend this presentation and provide comments.

 

The Annual Report is available on the Municipality’s website, www.durban.gov.za. It is also available at Sizakala Centres and Libraries.

 

Members of the public are invited to browse through the report and provide feedback to Phindi Nonyane at Phindi.Nonyane@durban.gov.za. The Municipality will be able to assist in transcribing representations and comments, should such services be required. The closing date for comments is 28 February 2019.

 

ENDS

 

Issued by eThekwini Municipality, Communications Unit. Spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela. For media enquiries contact 031 311 4820/18

 

 

Please read this confidentiality disclaimer: https://www.durban.gov.za/Pages/edisclaimer.aspx