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The Mayor’s EXCO presentation and newsflash this week failed to answer critical questions about eThekwini’s new arrangement with its plumbing contractors. While the City says the dispute has been resolved and that the 15% management fee will no longer be deducted from the rates of its 1,886 former contract plumbers, it has not disclosed what premium the City has agreed to pay the contractors, what percentage this represents, or what the arrangement will ultimately cost ratepayers.

The five CIP contractors previously maintained that they could not facilitate the plumbers’ employment for less than a 30% gross margin, comprising 15% from the City and 15% deducted from plumbers’ rates. If plumbers are no longer paying that 15%, who will cover the cost?

Approximately R800 million was paid to contract plumbers in the previous financial year. Even a small change in the percentage paid by the City could therefore translate into a substantial additional cost to ratepayers.

The Democratic Alliance welcomes any arrangement that gets qualified plumbers back to work and restores essential water and sanitation services. However, residents deserve transparency about the financial implications. The Mayor was given an opportunity to provide these answers but instead abruptly ended the EXCO meeting without responding to our questions.

Until the financial details of the new arrangement are disclosed, the plumbers’ saga is not over. Ratepayers deserve to know exactly what they are being asked to pay and why.

Issued by DA eThekwini EXCO Member Cllr Andre Beetge