The Msunduzi municipality has been accused of not prioritising the repairs and maintenance of water and electricity infrastructure in recent years and only applying a band aid approach to all infrastructure problems.
This was the view of the Msunduzi Association of Residents, Ratepayers and Civics (MARRC) who were responding to the recurring sewer pipeline blockages that have plagued some of the communities.
Ward 28 councillor Renisha Singh highlighted the plight when she wrote to officials at the Msunduzi Municipality requesting immediate action.
“Despite numerous complaints and promises of action, the municipality has failed to adequately address this crisis. The consequences of this neglect are dire, residents are exposed to unhealthy and unsanitary conditions, properties are damaged, and the environment is degraded. The DA demands immediate action from the municipality to clear the blocked sewers and prevent future occurrences,” Singh said.
Singh called on the municipality to provide a comprehensive plan to address the sewer blockages and prevent future occurrences; allocate sufficient resources and personnel to ensure prompt and effective maintenance.
The CEO of MARRC Anthony Waldhausen, said that currently the budget for water and electricity infrastructure is approximately 4% and should be 8%. Waldhausen said that the municipality is busy with the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and budgeting processes for 2025/2026.
“We will review the budget and insist that they include the 8% for repairs and maintenance of water and electricity infrastructure. We find that the municipality is not unblocking the sewerage systems which negatively affects the system. When we have torrential rains we find the drainage systems are overflowing, which in turn causes major flooding in parts of PMB,” Waldhausen said.
“We have raised this on numerous occasions with them but nothing seems to happen to address these issues. We have made a call on numerous occasions for a turnaround plan to take this municipality out of the mess we find ourselves in and they are unable to provide such a plan,” Waldhausen said.
The Msunduzi Municipality did not comment on the infrastructure and sewage issue. However two weeks ago Msunduzi Municipality Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla launched a dedicated war room at Church Street Mall.
He said the war room aims to address pressing service delivery issues. Thebolla declared 2025 as the year of “Massive Service Delivery”, with a renewed focus on tackling critical challenges facing the city.
"Clean water, reliable electricity, and a clean environment are not privileges; they are rights. This war room is just the beginning of our efforts to restore dignity, accountability, and pride in our city," said Thebolla.
With regard to the war room, Waldhausen said MARRC is concerned that not all stakeholders were involved in setting it up to address the challenges in the CBD. He said local businesses in the CBD were not consulted and it is a non-starter from the outset.
“We have general challenges with all the war rooms at the ward level where we have municipal and provincial officials who are supposed to attend the war room but are non-existent. These war rooms do not make any progress and are at times dysfunctional,” Waldhausen said.