Ratepayer associations in the eThekwini Municipality continue to advocate for oversight of infrastructure projects to ensure budgets are spent accordingly and get value for money.
Alicia Kissoon, eThekwini Ward 23 and Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor, said they were alarmed by the findings presented at the Finance Committee meeting of March 2025, which confirm that the municipality is failing to invest in basic infrastructure while its financial position worsens.
Kissoon said the municipality has spent just 7.87% of its total budget on capital projects like water, housing, and electricity.
Kissoon stated that the municipality claims 96% of its grant funding has been spent, including internal transfers and operational costs.
However, according to the municipality’s own financial tables, only 55% of capital grants have been spent, leaving over R1.48 billion outstanding.
“That means for every rand spent, only eight cents went toward real, long-term service delivery. Meanwhile, the city’s cash on hand has fallen to just 38 days, raising serious concerns about financial stability. The coalition in eThekwini is not building a city; it is managing decline – taps are dry, roads are crumbling, and funds meant for infrastructure are stuck in red tape.”
Kissoon said that the DA will be tabling questions to the Finance Committee, calling for:
- A breakdown of capital projects by department and ward.
- Full disclosure of which grants are delivering infrastructure and which remain idle.
The eThekwini Residents and Ratepayers Association (ERRA) chairperson Ish Prahladh said it was evident that there was neglect on water and road infrastructure in the municipality.
“Contractors that are appointed for our water, electricity, and roads infrastructure are failing us. Those appointing these failing contractors also need to be brought to book. There is no supervision to these contractors and sign offs after a job is being completed by city officials,”Prahladh said.
The ERRA believes that the ratepayers’ money is being misused and overspent as long as jobs are not quoted and finished properly.
Prahladh said to save money, the municipality should use ward-based contractors.
“Plumbers do not know where the valves are; they spend a whole shift looking for valves and closing them. Then another shift looks for leaks and then another shift comes to repair the leak and starts looking for spares and then another shift fixes the leak and goes and then bursts again a few metres away. This is a waste of money,” Prahladh said.
The ERRA believes that jobs are still issued to contractors that do not know what they are doing.
“Ratepayers should be included in the final assessment on contractors because we are on the ground with the contractors helping them. We even provide security for them on most occasions to help them complete the job,” Prahladh said.
The eThekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement (ERPM) chairperson Asad Gaffar claimed that the DA has taken far too long to highlight the municipal flaws despite having a seat in the Finance Portfolio Committee.
“The movement has been saying this since inception. To make matters worse, the DA should be interrogating every expenditure that comes for sign-off. The fact that the administration had failed to spend its budget rests also on the DA. Putting a comment out that they are asking for an investigation shows that they have no clue what is going on,” Gaffar said.
