Durban - The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry is backing eThekwini Municipality as it begins the process of improving service delivery, hampered by recent events like Covid-19, the July 2021 unrest and the April and May floods.
DCCI president Prasheen Maharaj was speaking at a media briefing on Thursday in which mayor Mxolisi Kaunda revealed a number of interventions that the city is working on to address issues around the state of Durban’s beaches, water and sanitation infrastructure repairs, as well as the ongoing power outages and wildcat strikes by the Durban Solid Waste (DSW) unit.
Maharaj said they are throwing the might of business behind not only the city but also the role players to avert a potential economic crisis.
“We would rather be solution-oriented and work together,” he said.
Maharaj said service delivery challenges severely impact on business, leading to lower economic growth and the cost of doing business increasing, and instead of complaining, solutions need to be found. He explained how business and the private sector worked alongside government to address some of the recent challenges.
“Going forward, we need – between the private sector, government, SOEs and SOCs (state-owned enterprises and companies) and all role players that are integral to the success of the economy – to work together. Complaining and fighting government is not the solution,“ he said.
IOL has reported extensively around issues with sewage leaks and DSW service delivery in the city.
The DCCI CEO is also working with the city and metro police to increase security across the municipality.
Speaking at the briefing, Kaunda said the city has had to reprioritise its budget to fast- track infrastructure repairs.
He said one of the biggest issues was the Northern Waste Water Treatment Works and while while the city welcomed the R184 million boost from the National Treasury, it is not enough.
“The estimated cost of the repairs is R160m for pump stations and over R300m for water treatment works,” Kaunda said.
He said it is imperative to ensure that beaches are not contaminated and are open for the festive season. At least eight beaches along the city’s coastline have been re-opened following closures over unacceptable levels of E coli.
Kaunda said there are also plans afoot to bolster the city’s clean-up campaign in the form of dedicated teams put in place to pick up litter, sweep and clean the streets in shifts.
“This is going to be complemented by area managers doing inspections during their shifts in the areas they are supervising,” he added.
IOL