Kaunda defends eThekwini's infrastructure upgrade efforts
eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda has defended efforts to
upgrade the city's electricity infrastructure.
Kaunda says it's not true that projects were stalled during the months-long load-shedding exemption period.
Reduced levels of the power cuts were introduced in Durban after last year's catastrophic floods and the city was only recently placed back on the normal schedule.
Speaking during his post-budget briefing on Thursday, Kaunda responded to the criticism, insisting that progress was made to refurbish infrastructure.
"This was a temporary relief measure to allow eThekwini to fix critical infrastructure that was severely damaged to a large extent we have done this as a city.
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"More than 100 transmission stations were affected by the floods and almost all of them are now working with some minor protection concerns."
He said more funds will be allocated to infrastructure improvements.
"We'll continue to invest aggressively in electricity infrastructure within the constrain of budget availability. Yesterday we announced an investment of over R2 billion in the next financial year to upgrade and maintain our electricity infrastructure."
