Newly elected eThekwini Municipality mayor Cyril Xaba says the people of Durban deserve better.
Addressing the media at a meet-and-greet moments after he was officially sworn in, Xaba said he remained committed to serving the people.
“I will do my utmost best to ensure that residents get value for money. They pay our salaries. They deserve better,” he said.
In his speech following his swearing-in, Xaba said he will meet with all service delivery units to streamline plans to clean the city.
Xaba said the meeting will focus on rehabilitating roads, fixing street lights, maintaining sports facilities and parks, building houses and dealing with water and sewage leaks - all issues that have plagued the City in recent years.
Xaba said from these engagements, City leadership will be able to develop new approaches to accelerate service delivery.
"Our city has a vibrant and dynamic community, rich in diversity and full of potential. It is a place where different cultures, ideas and dreams come together like bright rainbow colours to create a thriving environment.
“Working as a collective, I commit to nurture this diversity and harness our collective strengths to build a more inclusive future, that no one must feel left out,” Xaba said.
He added that City management will review areas that have not performed well and implement new approaches, and in the process, enhance transparency and improve accountability, to ensure effective and efficient service delivery.
Focus areas:
* Improving water and sanitation infrastructure as well as ensuring uninterrupted water supply
* A safe and clean city
* Inner-city rejuvenation
* Strengthening good governance and fighting corruption
* Attracting investment and promoting an inclusive economy that creates jobs.
“We want to appeal to the employees of the municipality to recommit themselves to serve the public with integrity, honour, and humility in line with the Batho Pele Principle.
“We must state unequivocally that we will not tolerate people who do not want to work and those who pursue their self-interests at the expense of the people of eThekwini. We will monitor performance of senior management to ensure that it is aligned to the objectives and key performance indicators that underpin our Integrated Development Plan,” Xaba said.
He added that he will work alongside the Auditor General, Treasury and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to promote a clean and accountable administration.
Xaba welcomed the support that the city is getting from the provincial and national government through Section 154.
Focus areas
* City Support Programme by National Treasury which helped the city in the development of the water and sanitation turnaround strategy
* Water and sanitation team turnaround strategy implementation team.
* Water and sanitation support for operations by the Department of Water and Sanitation
* Umngeni/Uthukela Water on maintenance and operation of 10 Wastewater Treatment Works
* National Department of Cogta on various service delivery support Wastewater Treatment Works
* The Presidential Working Group which provides support on seven work streams which include, among others, disaster management and governance
* KZN Cogta support on issues of service delivery, consequence management and grants expenditure
* National Treasury support on collection of government debt
* Ongoing oversight on financial management in line with the MFMA.
“Next week, we will be engaging with all support teams with an intention of strengthening relations and ensuring that our work is aligned to adequately respond to the service delivery needs,” he said.
He further called said that building a functional and sustainable city requires a collective effort.
IOL News