Latest news with #CyrilXaba
IOL News
2 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Political parties guarded on effectiveness of Durban's R70. 9 billion 2025
There were mixed reactions to the eThekwini Municipality's R70.9 billion budget at a council meeting on Thursday. Image: Willem Phungula WHILE the majority of political parties approved the eThekwini Municipality's R70.9 million budget for 2025/2026 at a council meeting yesterday, many were sceptical about whether the objects of the exercise would be achieved. Some questioned whether the budget represented fair enough returns to ratepayers for their monthly outlay, considering the municipality's well-documented service delivery shortcomings. However, the municipality maintained that the budget was took into account their extensive public consultations, where they received the following comments: High tariffs were unaffordable; Ward committees were not active; Poor maintenance of leaking water pipes and sewers; Request for improvements of streetlights; Improvement in the replacement of electricity meters; Road rehabilitation of existing roads was lacking, as they are full of potholes and storm disaster damage; Delayed progress in housing projects; Poor building and maintenance of social facilities such as halls, sports fields, pools, and verges; Insufficient youth programmes. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba emphasised that the budget was set on a trajectory to improve service delivery and technological innovation. Xaba promised more unannounced site visits and acknowledged that delays in responses to service delivery complaints costed the city. 'We will continue to adopt a financially sustainable revenue model,' he said. According to the municipality, it made amendments to the draft budget after public consultation by reducing water, refuse removal, and sanitation tariffs. ANC councillor Zama Sokhabase said the budget was designed to reshape eThekwini's future and stimulate economic growth with the revitalisation of public spaces and working together for the public. Sokhabase said the budget wiould also focus on health programmes such as teenage pregnancy. Andre Beetge, a DA councillor, said they have heard the same rhetoric year after year, with items adopted several years ago that were not implemented. Plans can be tabled, but the proof remained in service delivery. Beetge said the DA will not support a fairytale budget. IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi stated that the budget would deliver on the municipality's trading services, which included water, sanitation, cleaning, and solid waste management, to keep the city clean. Nkosi said The budget aimed to generate quick wins, gain service delivery momentum, and provide essential services. Councillor Jay Singh, representing the United Independent Movement (UIM), rejected the budget. He condemned the electricity tariff increase as a measure that unfairly targeted compliant ratepayers while failing to address revenue leaks and the city's debt. Singh said the budget lacked concrete plans to dismantle the 'electricity and water mafia' networks profiting from illegal connections in informal settlements. Zwakele Mncwango, of ActionSA, said the tariff increases were high and the budget failed to provide a budget for public transport and crime prevention, adding that the city also failed to collect debt because of poor financial management. Imtiaz Syed, President of Active Citizens Coalition (ACC), said that 75% of the budget was contributed by ratepayers, which he described as an injustice and penalised those who worked daily to pay their bills. Syed said it also did not deal with the informal settlement growth, which was prejudicing ratepayers. Patrick Pillay, leader of the Democratic Liberal Congress (DLC), said he did not support tariff increases that were way above the inflation rate. Pillay said the budget was providing a social package, one of a kind, when compared to other municipalities, that would bring great relief to pensioners, grantees, and the unemployed. Sunitha Maharaj, of the Minority Front, said the ordinary ratepayers needed the same investment in their infrastructure to enjoy the benefits of their payments to the city's coffers. Aslam Shaheed, the leader of the Truly Alliance (TA), said that while the budget vision was bold, it must be grounded in the realities that residents faced daily. 'We should implement a monthly performance review framework directly tied to key budget items, which would provide transparent updates, progress of infrastructure repairs, job creation, and catalytic investments. This would be responsible governance,' Shaheed said. The eThekwini Municipality R70.9 billion budget for the 2025/26 financial year has been adopted today at a full council meeting held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban. Image: Zainul Dawood
IOL News
4 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Durban buildings up for sale: eThekwini Municipality's strategic move
The eThekwini full council held at the Durban ICC. Image: Sibonelo Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers Councillors have granted the eThekwini Municipality the go-ahead to negotiate with the business rescue practitioners and bondholders of Urban Lime Prop SA (PTY) Ltd to purchase the Durban Chambers and Durban Club place buildings, estimated at R120 million. The matter was approved at a council meeting on Thursday, where the property development company is undergoing a business rescue process, according to the municipality, which has accumulated substantial municipal debt. The buildings, which are currently not in use, are strategically located near the Durban City Hall, where the city is leasing two other high-rise buildings. In a report presented to the council, the municipality stated that this presented a timely and strategically aligned opportunity to acquire the buildings. The report stated that the deal could offer a practical solution to the long-standing challenges in securing compliant, cost-effective, and permanent office accommodation rather than relying on leased properties. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The report stated that the proposed acquisition will meet two key objectives: The recovery of significant outstanding municipal debt. The reduction of long-term leasing costs through the ownership of suitable accommodation assets. The city estimates it will have to spend R10 million in total to repair the fire detection system, get an electricity compliance certificate, and repair the air conditioning and lifts. Cyril Xaba, eThekwini mayor, said the city must carefully evaluate the deal and not buy something that will not deliver potential benefits. Xaba said the council's directive is to prioritise insourced services as a cost-saving mechanism and that this acquisition was described as a significant advancement in addressing the current challenges associated with municipal offices operating from leased premises that are no longer compliant with prevailing building standards. During an Executive Committee meeting (Exco), several councillors spoke about the issue. Themba Mvubu, EFF Exco member, said the emphasis should be on the acquisition of the building to benefit the city and save costs. DA Exco member Andre Beetge said the city should not jump into the deal without conducting due diligence. He said at face value, it appears to be a good proposition and that the municipality should be wary not to put itself into a problem where millions are spent on further renovations. 'We must not buy an asset that requires money to fix. We did this in the past, and we do not want white elephants,' he said. Mdu Nkosi, an IFP Exco member, said he welcomed the move because in most of the buildings that the municipality was renting, there were challenges. Nkosi mentioned that one of the buildings used by councillors has roof leaks, cockroach infestations, and pigeons entering the ceilings. According to Nkosi, the municipality will save money if it goes this route and avoids paying exorbitant rental fees. "Officials cannot do anything, but if we do have our buildings, we will be able to maintain them. This will be a motivation to the municipal employees who are having challenges in their workspaces. You have visitors who enter some offices and find that they are poorly maintained and buckets collecting water from leaking roofs,' he said. Nkosenhle Madlala, the ANC Exco whip, said that for years, councillors have been vocal about the municipality paying exorbitant amounts for the rental of office space. 'At a council meeting, a councillor did the math on how much we were spending per year on rentals while we could be owning the building. This process takes us a step closer to ownership,' he said.
TimesLIVE
5 days ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
eThekwini's R71bn budget gets thumbs up from ruling coalition
The eThekwini council on Thursday gave the green light to a R70.9bn budget for the 2026 fiscal year, after a second consecutive year of revised tariff increases. Mayor Cyril Xaba had previously tabled the revised budget on Monday where he announced it had been reduced from the proposed R71.3bn owing to tariff hike adjustments. The municipality decided to scale back on some of the tariff increases it had initially proposed in the draft budget after a public outcry during the consultation processes. The increases include: 13% and 14% for water in households and business, down from 15% and 16% respectively. 11% and 12% for domestic and business sanitation respectively, down from the proposed 13% and 14%. Refuse collection has been reduced to a 9% increase from the proposed 9.9% for domestic households, which is in line with that of business. 5.9% for property rates from the proposed 6.5% The city has further increased the rebate on vacant land from 10% to 30%. The electricity increase, however, remained unchanged at 12.72% after the city could not convince Eskom to reduce its 11.32% hike. 'We failed to win our argument with Eskom. They pleaded that the cost of providing services has increased and that they can't improve the tariff,' Xaba said on Monday. The main opposition party, the DA, disapproved of the budget, saying it lacked the necessary elements to rescue eThekwini from its challenges. Councillor Andre Beetge said he did not share Xaba's optimism on the budget because it sounded like a repetition of previous promises. He said the 'strategically' reduced tariffs were just a smokescreen while the underlying issues remained unresolved. Chief whip Yogis Govender argued the overall impact of the tariff hikes remained significant for consumers despite some slight decreases. 'I couldn't help but note the mayor saying that some tariffs came down by a few percent but what you are really saying to consumers is that 'this bottle is selling for R500 but I feel sorry for you. I hear you so I will sell it to you for R499. 99 because that's how caring we are.' The reality is the pinch will still be felt because an increase is still an increase,' she said. 'You are taxing your fast-shrinking rates base into extreme financial distress. Life is extremely stressful for the taxpayer in eThekwini.' ActionSA leader Zwakele Mncwango said the budget failed to adequately address the needs of residents. 'The proposed tariff increases are excessive and will further burden our citizens who are also struggling. The 13% increase over tariffs is so high while we're facing 58% water loss and the 11% increase in sanitation tariffs will have significant impact on low income households and make it even more difficult for them to access basic needs.' He added it did not provide sufficient funding for critical services like public transport, crime prevention and land management. He further questioned the city's financial management, highlighting concerns over collection rates and decreasing revenue while expenditure increased. 'This will have long-term consequences for the municipality's financial health. Furthermore, irregular expenditure continues to increase, which is unacceptable and raises questions about the municipality's ability to manage its finances effectively.' The EFF welcomed the budget, saying that the adjustment of tariff increases would provide relief to residents. The party said they would've called for no tariff increases but noted circumstances do not allow for that. 'We have our reservations because we wouldn't necessarily want tariff increases but at the same time we understand that eThekwini is 60% rural and 40% urban, meaning we have a very low tax base to collect from — which is why you find that our rates are not like other municipalities.' Xaba said the budget aimed at accelerating service delivery through improved revenue collection and infrastructure development. He said the city was largely dependent on effective collection of revenue and the residents' ability pay for services to boost its coffers and implement the budget. 'This means that when we enter the new financial year in July, we will embark on an intensive campaign to encourage our residents to pay for services. For those who are poor and cannot afford to pay, we already have a programme in place — the Indigent Support Policy — where qualifying households are subsidised by government and are eligible to receive free basic services.' They will achieve this by improving their cash collection through metering all unmetered properties, replacing old meters and conducting monthly readings to ensure accurate billing. The city is also looking to build resilient infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters and wants to attract new investment to grow the economy and create jobs. The budget was adopted when 134 councillors, mainly from the governing coalition of the ANC, EFF and IFP caucuses, voted for it against the 54 who voted against it while three councillors abstained.
IOL News
5 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Controversial R70. 9 billion budget approved by eThekwini Municipality
The eThekwini Municipality approved a R70.9 billion budget for the 2025/26 financial year at the ICC The eThekwini Municipality approved a R70.9 billion budget for the 2025/26 financial year at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre Complex on Thursday. This decision comes after Mayor Cyril Xaba presented the budget on Monday, where he highlighted key priorities such as infrastructure development, job creation, and enhanced service delivery. However, while the budget was passed, several political parties including ActionSA, the United Independent Movement and the Democratic Alliance (DA) rejected the budget, arguing that it "fails to adequately address the needs of our citizens." "The budget fails to provide sufficient funding for critical services such as public transport, crime prevention, and land management. The allocation for public transport is insufficient to address the needs of our growing city, and the lack of funding for crime prevention will make the situation worse. "Thirdly, the municipality's financial management is a major concern, " KZN Action SA leader Zwakele Mncwango said.
TimesLIVE
7 days ago
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Mncwango spread false info over fan park tender: eThekwini mayor Xaba
eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba has warned ActionSA KwaZulu-Natal leader Zwakele Mncwango against spreading 'false information' about the tender process for the Nedbank Cup final fan parks. The city set up two public viewing areas (PVAs) at the Durban beachfront and Albert Park to accommodate supporters who weren't able to buy tickets for the Cup final between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates at Moses Mabhida Stadium earlier this month. The build-up to the match was marred by safety concerns in and outside the stadium after disappointed fans threatened to force their way inside the stadium or to protest in its vicinity when it emerged that online ticket providers Open Tickets and Computicket had over-issued more than 10,000 tickets above the stadium capacity. While this was swiftly corrected and refunds were promised, some fans had already made travel and accommodation arrangements from Gauteng and elsewhere, prompting the city to host the free fan parks. Mncwango, like many other organisations, welcomed the initiative but also called for transparency and accountability around processes followed in issuing the tender. The ActionSA caucus leader in eThekwini council submitted questions to city manager Musa Mbhele, mainly seeking details about the service provider, the procurement processes followed to appoint it, as well as the money spent.
