Durban — The eThekwini Municipality’s head of Human Settlements and Infrastructure, Councillor Themba Mvubu, has lambasted Water and Sanitation officials for the collapse of ablution facilities in informal settlements.
Mvubu was reacting to the discovery of dilapidated toilets in the informal settlements in Chatsworth during the oversight visit by Thami Xuma, the Municipal Public Accounts Committee’s chairperson.
Xuma said that he was shocked to have learnt that many of the container toilets in the city’s informal settlements were closed, with some having been so for more than two years.
He summoned the officials to appear before his committee last Thursday, but they failed to provide an explanation except to say they would compile a report.
Xuma, in his capacity as head of the city’s watchdog body, conducts oversight visits on the projects to ensure that officials heading projects are held accountable.
The eThekwini Municipality’s Human Settlements and Infrastructure (HSI) committee chairperson, councillor Themba Mvubu, told the Daily News on Monday that he was “disturbed” that such important infrastructure had not been maintained.
Mvubu said those responsible for the sustainability of the project would have to bear the consequences.
“I have a responsibility to ensure that services are delivered to the people. Therefore I will never be held to ransom by lazy officials who are not doing their jobs,” Mvubu said.
“If people don’t do what they were hired and paid to do, they must step aside and we will find people who are willing to perform. So those responsible will face the music,” he said.
He added that he had also been informed that despite the ablution facilities being closed, officials continued to supply toilet paper and cleaning materials to the facilities. He was also concerned that although the facilities were closed, the city continued to pay cleaners, which he said amounted to wasteful expenditure.
Both Xuma and Mvubu, who are EFF councillors, promised to crack the whip in their respective units to ensure that services were delivered to the people.
Another reason cited for the project’s collapse was said to be a war over the mooted splitting of water and sanitation into separate units under different heads. The proposal was to be opposed by some officials on the basis that it would reduce the unit’s budget.
Municipality spokesperson Lindiwe Khuzwayo acknowledged the budget-related challenges with its sanitation infrastructure. She said the city was finalising the contract to appoint contractors to start work in all the regions.
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