Latest news with #ZwakeleMncwango
IOL News
29-05-2025
- 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
27-05-2025
- 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.
IOL News
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- IOL News
eThekwini Municipality's investment in Metro FM Music Awards sparks debate
The eThekwini Municipality has announced that Durban will host the Metro FM Music Awards. Image: Willem Phungula The announcement that the eThekwini Municipality is to host the Metro FM Music Awards has drawn mixed reactions from city councillors and ratepayers. Some councillors felt the idea was not negative, as the City does need to be competitive. However, a ratepayers group said the city should not be involved in such sponsorships, suggesting that there are many businesspeople who could have been approached to fund the event. Last week, the City announced that it has committed to an agreement to be the host city of the popular Metro FM Music Awards, with an investment of R25 million over the next three financial years (2025/26, 2026/27, and 2027/28). This partnership positions Durban as a leading events destination, boosts tourism, creates jobs, and enhances the city's brand visibility, both nationally and internationally, it said. ActionSA councillor Zwakele Mncwango expressed concerns about the process followed in the approval of this deal. He stated that while the City needs to compete for events, the issue lies in how the funds are being spent. 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 ✕ Ad Loading 'We have not seen any report before council, and the fact that it is being announced before the council, which is the highest decision-making body, has a say, tells us that council is being used to rubber stamp this decision by the officials. This should have come to council first before they committed to hosting the Metro awards. The decision disregards the role of council. One wonders if the deal has been signed; that will be a concern for us as Action SA, that it is coming from which budget as we have not budgeted for the Metro,' he said. Ish Pradlah also expressed concerns, stating, 'Why does the City of eThekwini want to spend so much money on the Metro FM Awards when we have such big businessmen and companies that benefit and get awarded tenders from the City and rake in millions from the city coffers and ratepayers' money? 'They should be the ones to sponsor awards like this and make it less of a burden for the ratepayers. Rich businessmen and entrepreneurs should give back to the City of eThekwini and lessen the cost to the city.' THE MERCURY
IOL News
06-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Concerns rise over eThekwini Municipality's cash coverage amid R35 billion consumer debt
The Durban City Hall serves as the seat of local government, the eThekwini Municipality. Concerns have been raised about the municipality's cash coverage. Image: : Leon Lestrade Independent Newspapers THE amount of money the eThekwini Municipality has on hand to continue functioning in the event of a financial emergency has raised concerns among city councillors, who believe it is too 'little' and could lead to failure to deliver services. Councillors are calling on the municipality to aggressively collect on outstanding debts to ensure it has enough cash available to maintain operations in case of a financial calamity when it might be unable to collect revenue. They said having considerable cash on hand was critically important in light of a double-digit tariff increase that could come into effect in July. They expressed fears that the tariff hikes could lead to more people failing to pay for services. The municipality is owed close to R35 billion by households, businesses, and government departments. Councillors expressed extreme concern about the municipality's cash coverage over the last few months, which they say has been low. They said in February, cash coverage was less than a month, but it has since improved to around 38 days. A local government expert, who didn't want to be named, said the National Treasury's benchmark for cash coverage should be between 30 and 90 days. For instance, if there were a national shut-down and no one paid anything, the question would be how long the municipality could continue its operations. A report on the finances of the municipality tabled before the finance committee on Friday detailed the matter of cash coverage, revealing that the municipality has just 38 days of cash coverage compared to the norm of one to three months. 'This ratio indicates whether the municipality has enough cash coverage to meet its monthly fixed operational costs, with the norm being one to three months. The municipality has reported a ratio of 38 days, excluding unspent grants, and 43 days, including unspent conditional grants,' the report said. ActionSA leader in eThekwini Zwakele Mncwango remarked that the situation is better than it was in February when cash coverage was less than a month. He emphasised that a large municipality like eThekwini should ideally have at least two months' cash coverage. 'The chief financial officer informed us that part of the reason for the low cash coverage is that more money is paid out in months like December, while rate-payers tend not to pay during that time.' 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 ✕ However, Mncwango expressed scepticism about this explanation, stating, 'You cannot have a situation where someone owes the city a million rand and the city continues to provide them with services,' he said. DA councillor Mxolisi Khubisa also expressed concern over the cash coverage, warning that the city is at risk of failing to meet its debt obligations. 'In the last finance committee meeting, we noted a concern in the Section 71 report/budget that was presented, indicating an increase in the cash coverage ratio.
IOL News
24-04-2025
- Business
- IOL News
eThekwini faces R35bn consumer debt crisis
This restrictive measure unfairly targets paying customers, while ignoring the root cause of the water supply issue water loss has been highlighted as a contributing factor in Consumer debt in eThekwini A RECENT report detailing the state of consumer debt in the eThekwini Municipality has sparked concerns that ratepayers are deeply overstretched and unable to pay their municipal bills– and could fall even further behind with the new tariffs coming into effect in July. The report from the finance committee for this month shows that consumer debt in the city now stands at a staggering R35 billion, with a large portion of this debt being more than 30 days old. It added that the debtors'book grew significantly by R7.9bn compared to January 2024. Household debt makes up the bulk of the debt at R26bn, contributing to 75% of the total debtors. 'This reflects a growing number of households struggling to pay their municipal bills,' said the report. Commercial debt, which includes business accounts, amounts to R6.7bn. The municipal debt has continued to skyrocket despite interventions made, including offering indebted customers the opportunity to participate in debt relief programmes. The rising debt has raised concerns among ratepayers and councillors in the city. Action SA councillor Zwakele Mncwango expressed serious concerns regarding the municipality's financial situation. 'The picture has been like this for a while – since last year, the debt has been growing, and that is pointing to a serious problem. The main issue here is that the city identifies the problem but then does nothing to fix it. 'For instance, they say that people cannot afford to pay, but nothing is done to create a stable economic environment. More tariffs are being passed that burden those who already cannot afford to pay.' Mncwango suggested that those in debt could be offered a deal to pay at least half of what they owed, rather than the council losing everything. 'Going after those people legally is also an expensive process with no guarantee that they will pay in the end.' DA councillor Mxolisi Khubisa said at R35bn, the size of the debt posed a serious challenge, and the city leadership must take responsibility for it. 'One of the most alarming statistics highlighted is the city's water loss rate, which is significantly above the acceptable rate of 15-30%, currently sitting at 57.82%. The DA is demanding that the city manager be held accountable for these massive losses, which ultimately burden ratepayers. 'The DA calls on eThekwini's leadership to take urgent action to rectify these issues. The city must focus on addressing its billing problems, reducing water losses and ensuring fair and transparent tariff structures. Moreover, a thorough audit of the city's spending and a reduction of wasteful expenditures are essential to restore public confidence and support service delivery improvements,' Khubisa said. Ish Prahladh, president of the eThekwini Ratepayers and Residents Association, said on Tuesday they had attended a meeting to discuss tariffs and that residents are struggling. 'This (new tariffs) is going to cripple the ratepayers and residents' businesses, especially considering we have a 35% unemployment rate. There are many other avenues to bring in money. We should start with a 5% deposit instead of a 36-month repayment plan; consider extending it to 60 months. 'Additionally, all non-productive buildings should be sold, and Moses Mabhida Stadium should be utilised for other sporting activities without requiring millions in renovations when it is essentially a white elephant.' Mayoral spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa acknowledged that the outstanding escalating debt and the high rate of non-revenue water are key concerns. He said the City had already initiated targeted interventions to collect outstanding amounts and invest in water infrastructure. Mntungwa outlined the interventions being implemented to collect outstanding amounts, which include: *Implementation of the high bill strategy. *Implementation of the meter- reading strategy. *Implementation of the debt reduction strategy. *Review of management of the indigent policy. * Improvement of indigent management processes. * Utilisation of external debt col-lectors * Implementation of the credit control and debt collection policy (including disconnection of services for non-payment). *Introduction of special debt relief programmes to assist debtors in financial distress and encourage those who can afford to pay. Mntungwa addressed the issue of tariff increases, saying they were subject to rigorous public consultation and National Treasury guidelines, while bulk tariff increases were imposed on municipalities. 'These increases are necessary for maintaining and expanding critical infrastructure in the face of rising costs and urban expansion. Tariff structures, as part of the trading services reforms, will be reviewed to ensure that they are cost reflective,' Mntungwa said. THE MERCURY
