Latest news with #EthekwiniMunicipality
IOL News
24-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Durban July to deliver R690 million boost to city's economy
Durban is set to receive a massive boost of around R690 million to its economy Image: Supplied Durban is set to receive a massive boost of around R690 million to its economy as the highly anticipated Hollywoodbets Durban July horse racing event returns on July 5, 2025. According to a statement issued to the media by eThekwini Municipality on Tuesday, the event is expected to draw around 45,000 visitors, creating thousands of jobs and benefiting local businesses across sectors such as fashion, hospitality, and transport. Last year's race saw the racecourse "packed to capacity with more than 50,000 spectators". "The Hollywoodbets Durban July is one of the major events on the City's calendar and is a drawcard that brings people from across the country and beyond to Durban. It is an event that has a huge economic impact on the City," the Ethekwini Municipality said. "Projections show that about R278.6 million will be a boost in direct spend and R689.4 million in GDP contribution. Additionally, 4,403 jobs are expected to be created during this period." "Businesses across various sectors, including the informal economy, will also experience a boost. Other sectors set to benefit from the Durban July are fashion and textile, transportation, restaurants, hair and beauty, and businesses selling fast food". 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 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. Next Stay Close ✕ The event is expected to draw around 45,000 visitors, creating thousands of jobs and benefiting local businesses Image: Supplied eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba urged residents and visitors to embrace the "excitement" of the Durban July, highlighting the event's "thrilling" races. 'Come and experience the thrill of the races, the stunning fashion, and the unforgettable moments that make the Durban July a must-attend event," Xaba said. "Whether you're a punter, a horse racing enthusiast, or simply looking to enjoy a fabulous day, come and be part of this iconic celebration,' Xaba said. IOL Business Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel
The South African
10-05-2025
- Sport
- The South African
Ethekwini Municipality cleans up Albert Park for Nedbank Cup final
The Ethekwini Municipality held a clean-up initiative at Albert Park in Durban to prepare for the screening of the Nedbank Cup final on Friday, 9 May 2025. The park will host a live screening of the match between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday, 10 May 2025. Community members also joined in to assist. Community members cleaning up Albert Park. Image: Nomndeni Ndlovu The clean-up, led by Trump-Based management officials, occurred across several parks in Durban, including Umgeni Road, South Beach, Albert Park and other prominent parks. Albert Park is notoriously known for its high crime rate and is deemed a 'no-go' area as it is known drug addicts who are known as 'Amaphara'. Speaking to The South African, Nokulunga Buthelezi, a citizen, said that she is still scared to visit Albert Park, even after it was cleaned. 'I am still sceptical about setting foot at Albert Park. I mean, I can see how beautiful it is cleaned and painted.' 'But what if this is only temporary and the park is cleaned because of the Nedbank Cup screening that will happen here and after that, things will go back to how they were before?' However, the councillor of ward 32 in Durban, Protas Mngonyama, assured that the park will continue being clean and is beefed up with security, even after the screening of the Nedbank Cup. 'The clean-up is not because of the Nedbank Cup screening. The municipality started a programme in November 2024, to clean up the park and remove gangsters who lived there.' 'We have put up tight security and a fence around the park to ensure the safety of the community,' Mngonyama said. The Nedbank Cup final sales tickets were scheduled to be sold from 10:00 on Monday, 5 May 2025. However, due to a high volume of fans buying tickets, the system crashed, leading to the sale of more tickets than the stadium's 41 000 capacity. Noluthando Kunene, an Orlando Pirates fan, said that she ended up getting a refund after she was not issued a ticket. 'I don't want to lie, I am very sad that I could not go and watch the match, even though I did purchase a ticket.' 'I scratched out so many plans for this event only to be left disappointed like this while it's not even my fault, they knew many people would want to buy tickets, so they should have planned this well,' said Kunene. Meanwhile, Acting CEO of PSL, Mato Madlala, confirmed that there had been a system glitch that resulted in more tickets being oversold. 'The server crashed, and we had challenges at that time because of the numbers, everyone trying to access the system at the same time,' said Madlala. Fans without tickets were urged not to go to the stadium. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news
IOL News
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- IOL News
eThekwini Municipality faces scrutiny over alarming fuel management practices
Ethekwini Municipality's fuel consumption came under the spotlight at an Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday. The fuel bill between January 2025 and March 2025 amounted to R86 million. Image: Tumi Pakkies / Independent Newspapers Ethekwini Municipality's fuel consumption bill came under the spotlight at an Executive Committee (Exco) meeting, on Tuesday, with R86 million spent in 2025. The eThekwini city fleet monthly report for March 2025 presented to the eThekwini Finance committee, last week, detailed the fuel consumption for the municipal fleet of 9240 vehicles including 565 Durban Transport buses and heavy construction plant items. The units allocated the most vehicles are; water and sanitation unit - 2074; electricity department -1850 ; Parks - 860; and Cleansing and Solid Waste (CSW) - 858. The municipality fuel consumption analysis report between January 2025 and March 2025 amounted to R86 million. The report also detailed the total distance travelled by each department and cost of fuel in the three months. The city fleet also used an estimated 4.3 million litres of fuel and travelled an estimated 17.6 million kilometers in three months. The fleet provides vehicles for the CSW, community participation, electricity; fire and emergency services; health; Metro police; roads and storm-water and other municipal departments. To mitigate some of the problems, the municipality stated that they have onboard vehicle monitoring equipment that records speeding and tracks the vehicles location. This information enables the city to monitor and improve driver behaviour which helps to reduce operating costs. Vehicles are also not allowed to leave the eThekwini area without permission. Notifications of usage are sent to the line managers daily while monthly reports are escalated to departmental heads. The eThekwini municipality Audit Risk Committee (ARC) report for the second quarter ended 30 December 2024 presented to Exco, on Tuesday, also expressed concerns about fuel management. Siboniso Shabalala, chairperson of the ARC, stated that they were very concerned with the control environment around fuel management for the fleet based on the findings tabled by an internal audit. 'Internal audit also secured responses from the line departments so that there is implementation of the additional controls and monitoring required to arrest the challenges in this function,' he said. Shabalala said the ARC noted that while there was inaction by line departments regarding excessive usage utilising the reports from City Fleet, there are instances where line departments have taken consequence management with referrals to City Integrity and Investigations Unit (CIIU) and suspension of employees.
