Rampant looting of municipal funds delays beach recovery

It would be simple to ascribe the current appalling pollution crisis in KwaZulu-Natal – where most of the major, formerly pristine beaches in and around Durban have been closed because of sewage in the water – to the damage wreaked earlier this year by the floods.

However, the fact that the provincial and municipal authorities have not been able to deal effectively with the reconstruction imperative is also due to human factors. These include rampant looting of municipal funds over years by ANC cadres and service payment defaults, which mean there is simply no money available.

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Even worse, the R1 billion in aid promised to the province by President Cyril Ramaphosa in the wake of the floods has not yet materialised. And it will not, say councillors in eThekwini, be a relief grant. It will only be a loan, which will be deducted from next year’s central government budget allocations to the province.

National government must immediately provide the promised money – and ensure it goes to genuine and capable contractors and not fly-by-night money laundering outfits run by ANC comrades.

Unless these beaches are reopened, any hope of economic recovery in the province, from the annual tourism pilgrimage, will be stillborn.