President Cyril Ramaphosa says Durban under the eThekwini Municipality must be restored to its former glory.
Ramaphosa said this during his Opening of Parliament address in Cape Town on Thursday, 18 July.
RAMAPHOSA WANTS TO REVIVE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY
During his address, Ramaphosa said that when he visited eThekwini earlier this year, he met with residents, local business leaders, and municipal officials.
The president said they told him they wanted to work together to build a city they could be proud of again.
“We have since put the eThekwini Presidential Working Group in place to enhance support from national and provincial governments to turn the metro administration around, fix the water and sanitation problems, and attract new investment.
“We will extend the same approach to other metropolitan cities that face serious challenges so that our cities can be engines of growth and dynamic centres of opportunity,” he said.
In June, newly-appointed Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi introduced Dr. Mike Sutcliffe and former Director General Dr. Cassius Lubisi as the two governance experts appointed to lead the intervention in eThekwini.
Addressing the executive committee, Buthelezi said they aim to restore eThekwini to its former status as the jewel in the crown of KZN.
ANC KZN AND COGTA MEC FROM IFP NOT SEEING EYE TO EYE
Meanwhile, the African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal believes that Cogta MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi risks the stability and viability of the Government of Provincial Unity.
The ANC is accusing Buthelezi of weaponizing his department for what is a campaign to turn municipalities into a fiefdom of a dominant grouping that is operating like a criminal syndicate.
ANC secretary in KwaZulu-Natal Bheki Mtolo said they view Buthelezi’s removal, replacement, and appointment of administrators, municipal managers, and chief financial officers without following due processes as reckless and illegal.
Additionally, Mtolo accused Buthelezi of elevating himself above the leadership collective within the PGU since assuming his responsibilities.
“We want to remind him that no party in the GPU could obtain an outright majority. Therefore, he should not act as if he is the Alpha and Omega of the PGU,” Mtolo said.
In response, Thulasizwe Buthelezi reiterated that the ANC in KZN lost power on 29 May, and the GPU must not give Mtolo the illusion that the ANC is still in power in the province.
Buthelezi said the days are gone when Mtolo would bark orders to MECs and HODs in the province.
“I serve at the pleasure of the KZN Premier. Since I assumed office 30 days ago, I have been startled by the evidence of corruption and maladministration that was the order of the day in KZN Cogta in the sixth administration.
“A forensic investigation into procurement and employment violations between January 2023 and May 2024 would most likely lead to criminal charges being laid against senior ANC leaders in the province. If I were Mtolo, I would keep quiet since the information at my disposal implicates even himself in the saga of the resignation of the former HOD and his subsequent unlawful secondment to the national government,” the Cogta MEC said.
