Durban - As the one-year anniversary of the devastating April floods draws closer, the municipality has confirmed that it has received R1.5 billion from the national government for relief and repair efforts.
Mayoral spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa said the last portion of the money was received last Friday.
Also last week, the City’s top brass, including mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and City manager Musa Mbhele, met the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Portfolio Committee.
Mntungwa said they were waiting for the municipal treasury unit to determine how the funds would be allocated, noting that many departments within the municipality were in need of the money.
At last week’s meeting, Cogta committee chairperson Zinhle Cele expressed relief that the City had received the money, noting that this had been cited as the reason for the lack of repairs of many roads and other forms of infrastructure damaged by the heavy rains last year.
She said the onus was on the municipality to show it was able to spend the money on services.
“There is no other thing left except for the municipality to deliver the services needed by the community members out there. Our hope is that the municipality will demonstrate the energy and focus needed to carry out the required task,” she added.
Cele reiterated that the committee would be closely monitoring the spending patterns of the municipality, especially on the infrastructure extensively damaged by the floods.
During the meeting, the City manager indicated that of the R1.5bn availed by the national government, an amount of R1.2bn had already been earmarked for road infrastructure repairs in many parts of the city.
IFP committee member Otto Kunene said they were hoping for a comprehensive report that would show that money has been properly spent when they meet with the municipality in three months’ time.
“There should be proper spending of the money, there should be no corruption of any sort, because people of eThekwini who have been living in halls want to see tangible change in their lives that were badly affected last year,” said Kunene.
He stressed that it was important for eThekwini to “get fixed so it regains the appeal it once had”, and for it to be in a position to attract new businesses to the city once more.
The DA’s Martin Meyer said while they were pleased that the money had been released, it was concerning that it had taken a year for this to happen.
“They are not called ‘emergency funds’ for nothing, the money is supposed to be released as soon as possible.
“This says a lot about the sense of response from the national government,” said Meyer.
He expressed hope that the City would spend the money well.
The rains which started on April 8 last year battered many parts of KwaZulu-Natal, but it was eThekwini that suffered the most, with roads, bridges and houses collapsing, resulting in the loss of more than 400 lives.
This led to many people being housed in shelters, halls and tents for months, prompting calls for assistance from the national government.