Hlabisa: Residents of embattled eThekwini should see change within a year
Cooperative Governance Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa says residents of eThekwini should begin seeing change in the municipality within a year.
The municipality was placed under Section 154 administration in June.
Challenges being tackled included electricity and water supply, crime, service delivery and infrastructure.
There is also a worrying decline in the city's tourism numbers.
On Tuesday, Hlabisa received reports from teams working to turn the city around.
They are the Presidential eThekwini Working Group and the Section 154 team, led by former municipal manager Mike Sutcliffe and former director general in the Presidency, Cassius Lubisi.
READ: eThekwini reacts to being put under review
Hlabisa says if the issues are not addressed, business interest in the city will fall.
"Out of all the interventions that are being done, the rating by the business chamber has gone beyond 50 per cent, which is a very good sign. What we will need to follow is to see how businesses contribute in terms of providing resources for the municipality.
"The municipality indicated that in order to be able to meet the challenges of providing water and sanitation they need a region of R44 billion.”
Hlabisa says the private sector can assist with this money through investment.
He says the teams also gave the ministry timelines on their efforts to fix the city.
"The Presidential eThekwini Task Team divided its work into three categories: short-term, which is three months, medium-term six months, and long-term, 12 months to 24 months, because they are intended to be here for two years to turn things around."
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