Riyaz Patel
Seven months after the Msunduzi Municipality was placed under administration, its financial position had deteriorated to the extent where service delivery was severely retarded, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal has said.
Msunduzi encompasses the city of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of KwaZulu-Natal.
“More alarming is the lack of political will to address the devastatingly low collection rates of services throughout the city, DA councillor in Msunduzi Ross Strachan said, ANA reported.
Basic services such as routine maintenance on infrastructure were not being executed, while service providers were awarded tenders in good faith without understanding the risk of payment expectations, Strachan added.
“Bulk service providers are having to serve notices on the municipality for not paying timeously and as per the legislative responsibilities,” he said.
“More alarming is the lack of political will to address the devastatingly low collection rates of services throughout the city.
“There are residents, large areas and businesses throughout the city that are not paying for basic services such as water and electricity, in which some have been connected illegally, or bypassed meters, or connected directly to reservoirs, some of which are households that are worth millions.”
