Sixty concerned residents came to the Salt Rock library to have a serious and heartfelt dialogue with officials of the KwaDukuza municipality who tabled the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the 2019/20 draft budget last week.
In light of the recent service delivery dilemmas in the region, including but not limited to water disruptions, electricity struggles and the dismal state of nonfunctional street lights, residents demanded answers from the municipals electricity unit.
The frustration of residents was obvious as some voiced their concerns about not having working street lights for almost two years, despite reporting them faulty on a regular basis.
Officials assured the meeting a maintenance contractor had been recently appointed and the backlog would be tackled while provisions had been made in the budget to repair 200 faulty street lights in Ward 22 and 70 in Ward 6.
Also read: Proposed tariff hike for KwaDukuza
The event was part of a series of roadshows the municipality is embarking on to strengthen community engagement, while tabling service delivery progress on existing programmes and outlining future municipal activities.
The meeting was chaired by KwaDukuza deputy mayor Dolly Govender who said the roadshow was an opportunity for community members to engage with their councillors and municipal officials and provide input on the draft budget before adoption by council at the end of May.
Imminent tariff hikes were tabled as a result of approved increases in electricity and water bulk tariff increases affected by suppliers Eskom and Umgeni Water.
Last month, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa granted Eskom’s tariff increase of 9.4% in the 2019/20 financial year, 8.1% in 2020/21 and 5.2% in 2021/22.
The municipality was proposing a 9.6% increase in both water and sanitation, 7% for electricity and 8% for rates and refuse tariffs.
The projects within the IDP are also linked to the municipality budget.
Planned projects include installation of new “smart meters” to be launched at the beginning of the financial year in July with a proposed budget of R10 million for the first year and a further spend of R71,3 million over the 2020/21 period.
Budget provision has also been made for the construction of the new Mount Richmore substation budgeted at R40,1 million, upgrading of the Salt Rock motor licensing centre and improving beach facilities and amenities at Thompson’s Bay and Salt Rock beach.
Services ranging from infrastructure, roads and storm water drains, to marine safety and law enforcement were also presented by municipal officials.
Other issues raised by residents included the deteriorating condition of roads, blocked storm water drains, the aging state of infrastructure and the lack of traffic calming measures.
Presenter of KDM civil engineering and human settlement, Muzi Sithole said provision had been made in the budget to address stormwater pipes, verge clearing, pothole patching and unblocking manholes and catchpits.
Other projects for Ward 6 included a R7 million budget for the upgrade of the Ballito Business Park road, R3,5 million assigned to the Ballito taxi rank, R3 million for the improvement of Ocean Drive and R5 million for the upgrading of Valley Road in Ward 22.
The total proposed budget for the new financial year is R1,2 billion made up of an operating budget of R857,6 million and a capital budget of R343,6 million. Adoption of the final IDP and budget will take place next month.
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