An aerial view of the Pietermaritzburg City Hall An aerial view of the Pietermaritzburg City Hall, home of the local Msunduzi Municipality. File Picture: Shelley Kjonstad
Durban - While Msunduzi Municipality says it has spent R1 billion on infrastructure development, an executive committee councillor has urged the City to urgently deal with sewerage pipe bursts.
The sentiment was expressed at yesterday’s executive committee (Exco) meeting where the CFO, Nelly Ngcobo, told members that the City had rolled out infrastructure amounting to R1bn in the 2023/24 financial year.
Deputy mayor and infrastructure committee chairperson Mxolisi Mkhize applauded the report, saying it underlined the municipality’s commitment to building reliable infrastructure.
He noted that roads were being constructed and potholes repaired.
“We are doing well considering that we were once referred to as a city of potholes,” the deputy mayor said. He said the development augured well for a city that was attempting to court businesses to invest.
However exco member Ross Strachan, from the DA, expressed worry at the constant burst of sewer pipes, saying it was damaging the same infrastructure the City was building.
He cited instances in the CBD and residential areas where sewage had overflown unattended for days.
“It is a concern that we have had a sanitation crisis for over a year now and the department always complains over lack of capacity,” he said.
City manager Lulamile Mapholoba conceded that sewer pipe bursts were a regular problem and there needed to be a structured approach to address them.
“What we need to do is to go to these hot spots in order to design a plan of dealing with them. There is quite a number of them that demand attention,” he told Exco members.
It is understood that a sanitation manager will be appointed soon.
In the meeting it was also revealed that the municipality would soon roll out an R8 million camera project in a bid to protect its electricity infrastructure which has come under attack from thieves.
The cameras will be installed in areas that have been vandalised recently, including the Eastwood power station.
Councillors approved the installation of cameras which will be done in phases.