The main challenges highlighted by residents at the Ballito mayoral IDP Imbizo last week were the lack of maintenance of infrastructure and uncontrolled drinking at the beach.
Under a heavy guard of municipal cops, the meeting went smoothly last Wednesday night after the previous night’s meeting was abandoned when angry residents criticized KwaDukuza municipality officials for not taking the meeting seriously.
On Tuesday night, around 50 residents from ward 6 and 21 had gathered at the Ballito municipal offices hoping to air their grievances on what they said was the disintegration of municipal services in the town.
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Residents demanded to know how a ‘mayoral imbizo’ could take place without the mayor present.
Mayor Dolly Govender had been delayed at a previous meeting and her apologies were relayed by ANC chief whip Dumisane Nzimande.
The meeting disintegrated further following the first presentation by the electrical engineering business unit’s executive director Sibusiso Jali – already in the firing line with residents for the state of street lights which have been out of order for close to 5 years.
Jali was criticized for producing an ‘unprofessional’ and ‘confusing’ presentation.
Some people walked out mid-way.
The meeting on Wednesday got under way with a notable top heavy municipal presence and a more subdued crowd.
The executive directors from each business unit were all present this time.
KDM chief officer for finance, Shamir Rajcoomar, outlined the Covid-19 debt relief scheme.
Rajcoomar refuted claims the municipality had outstanding Eskom debt of R100 million and said they were in good standing with the national power utility.
He said the R200 million owed to KDM by ratepayers included all categories of debt and not just electricity – R130 million was owed by ratepayers between Zimbali and Sheffield beach.
Community Services executive director Siyabonga Khanyile assured residents that KDM was well prepared to handle the influx of beachgoers over the festive season.
An additional 19 temporary staff had been employed to assist the 24 permanent staff with the day-to-day operations like cleaning and picking up litter.
The Community Safety Business Unit head, Cecil Viramuthu said the municipality’s would hold a joint operation with Saps and road traffic inspectorate to ensure the safety of residents and visitors.
Civil engineering and human settlements director Muzi Sithole said they were challenged by ageing roads and storm water infrastructure which needed rehabilitation and upgrading.
More than half of the region’s roads and networks were in poor condition.
No budget had been allocated for the 2020/21 financial year to rehabilitate roads (excluding potholes) in ward 21 and ward 6.
In the 2019/20 financial year R200 000 was allocated for the rehabilitation of Shaka’s Rock main road and R600 000 for Ocean Drive.
Sithole said allocated areas had been identified for pothole repairs but the budget was constrained.
Insufficient funds and budget cuts for bulk infrastructure (electricity, roads, sewerage and water) were key challenges for the department.
Housing backlogs, unavailability of accommodation and land invasion were some of the challenges faced by the department.
Electrical engineering business unit director Sibusiso Jali said ward 6 had about 424 faulty streetlights with a total of 70 repairs undertaken to date.
Jali said the contract to supply streetlight spares was in place while the contract for a panel of contractors to undertake repairs and maintenance was still being finalised.
A budget of R6 million had been allocated for new street lights but was still at the tender stage.
