The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Sihle Zikalala, has called for all stakeholders within the Msunduzi Local Municipality to work closely with the municipality to address service delivery challenges that the municipality is currently facing.
MEC Zikalala made this call during a direct engagement with stakeholders on Wednesday, 23 November at the Msunduzi Town Hall, where he met with Traditional Leaders, Civic Organisations, Business and rates payers organisations with the aim of forging stronger ties as the municipality moves ahead with its service delivery turn around plan.
One of the key issues that came up during this meeting is the increasing debtor’s book that the municipality has which has businesses, government and residential consumers owing the municipality millions of rands, which could be used to deliver better services to communities.
The Municipality under the leadership of Mayor Cllr Mzimkhulu Thebolla continues to implement several revenue enhancement measures which are aimed at ensuring that the municipality services are paid for.
According to MEC Zikalala, this is a progressive step by the municipality which is aimed at protecting the viability of the municipality and must be implemented taking into consideration the rights of consumers.
The Masakhane campaign seeks to :
● Improve the quality of relations between the Msunduzi council and its communities.
● Encourage businesses, government departments, government political office bearers, Councillors, officials and general members of the community to pay for municipal services to address challenges of power cuts and shortage of funds to provide basic and other services.
● Conduct mass education on the indigent policy so that elderly people and those who qualify can register and benefit in line with municipalities’ indigent arrangements.
The MEC also called for the municipality to continue to implement consequence management measures against officials that are found to have been flouting the law. “As the council of the municipality the buck stops with you, you are ultimately responsible for the state of the municipality and holding managers accountable for their performance. This is a task that our communities expect you to excel in line with the oath you took when you were sworn in” said Zikalala.
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