uThukela District Mayor Dudu Mazibuko – in conjunction with local municipality mayors, councillors and officials – recently led IDP and Budget Road Shows throughout her area of jurisdiction.
During her first run, the mayor spoke to the community of Ladysmith and Indaka, since they were transported to the same venue. These two local municipalities will soon form one working force (merged into one, as determined by the Municipal Dermarcation Board) in order to speed up service delivery to the people. Apart from this being another cost-cutting measure, it was also meant to remind the community of the changes expected as a result of this conglomeration and how it will benefit them.
During her speech, Mayor Mazibuko extended her appreciation to the community for turning up in numbers. She further applauded the newly-hired uThukela management for turning the municipality around within the first few months of their appointment. “Most managers were appointed in September, but we have already witnessed changes within the administration. These are the types of managers who work tirelessly in taking this municipality to the next level,” were the mayor’s words. She went on to say that South Africa has a good story to tell since 1994 – electricity supply, roads, schools, health facilities and houses used to be the things most communities were dreaming of having before the first elections. “Nobody would have thought that this could be a reality. All these services are provided without discrimination against any political party or religion.” Some of the RDP houses in Ezakheni E-Section are still without basic services and for this reason, according to the mayor, a contractor for water installation will be introduced on May 12. “Before the end of this year, we will be introducing yet another contractor for waterborne sewer systems in the area. We urge the community to use water sparingly, repair their internal leaks and refrain from connecting water illegally. Our offices should be consulted for assistance with connections.”
The district municipality has a R700m budget for 2014/2015. It is planned that 68.5 % of this budget will be invested in water installation and 31.5 % in sanitation (waterborne and VIP). “During our last financial year, we only had R400m on the table. This increase will allow us to serve our communities even better. We will be bringing back some of the services that were terminated because of budget constraints,” added the uThukela mayor.
She also commented on how the district municipality had supplied the whole of the Indaka Local Municipality area with water tanks and would soon resume supplying Okhahlamba Local Municipality as well.
According to uThukela, community participation was amazing and their comments/requests were noted and will be dealt with accordingly.
