OPINION: Accountability is not a thing in eThekwini Municipality

• A senior official was promoted as eThekwini’s water and sanitation crisis deepened. Why does accountability seem absent when court rulings, government warnings and infrastructure failures keep piling up?

• Two explosive developments have reignited questions about who is really responsible for Durban’s water and sewage failures. This opinion piece argues that in eThekwini, leaders are not held accountable; they fail upwards. Find out why.

By Jonathan Erasmus

There is clearly no such thing as accountability in senior leadership positions in eThekwini Municipality – especially when it comes to the delivery of water and sanitation services.

Instead, leaders fail upwards.

This may seem like a harsh position to take, but the facts are indisputable.

Last week, two serious matters involving eThekwini Municipality’s water and sanitation department surfaced that, in any reasonable, accountable organisation, would result in the immediate dismissal – or at least suspension pending further inquiry – of those in leadership.