THE eThekwini Municipality Council has today, July, 10, elected a new Mayor following the unexpected transferral of Mxolisi Kaunda, who handed over the reins to Deputy Mayor, Zandile Myeni on acting capacity.
The mayoral chain was bestowed on Vusumuzi Cyril Xaba, the man who is no stranger to political leadership. Xaba, a long-serving ANC member, is a former member of the National Assembly 2019. He also served as a Co-Chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence and as Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans. Xaba previously served as an ANC MPL in KwaZulu-Natal from 1994 and became the agriculture MEC in 2014.
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In his inaugural speech, Xaba has pledged not to fail the residents of eThekwini.
“This honour you have bestowed on me is not one I take lightly. It is a responsibility I humbly accept, knowing very well the expectation that comes with the job. Our city has a vibrant and dynamic community, rich in diversity and full of potential. Working as a collective, I commit to nurture this diversity and harness our collective strengths to build a more inclusive future, that no one must feel left out,” he said.
He promised to review areas that have not performed well and implement new approaches, in the process enhance transparency and improve accountability, to ensure effective and efficient service delivery and to ensure that those entrusted with the responsibilities more accountable.
“Our priorities are clear. To name but a few, we will focus on improving water and sanitation infrastructure as well as ensuring uninterrupted water supply; safe and clean city; inner-city rejuvenation; strengthening good governance and fighting corruption; attracting investment and promoting an inclusive economy that creates jobs.”
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In conclusion, Xaba said, “In the next few days we will be meeting with all service delivery units to streamline our plans to clean the city, rehabilitate our roads, fix streetlights, maintain our sport facilities and parks, build houses, and deal with water and sewer leakages. From these engagements, we will be able to develop new approaches to accelerate service delivery.”
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