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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Msunduzi is deeply disappointed by  the lack of professionalism and poor planning of Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla ‘s first live engagement with the public.

Not only did the meeting start 20 minutes late, but residents were only able to follow on limited platforms, and not as advertised.

Msunduzi has been suffering years of neglect and maladministration with the Mayor sidestepping all accountability.

The Mayor cannot blame Covid-19 for the backlogs in Service delivery. The situation was just as bad before the pandemic.

Overgrown verges were not maintained long before Covid-19; streetlights never functioned long before COvid-19; waste management was a crisis long before Covid-19 and potholes were here long before Covid-19.

The DA proposes that in the next meeting Thebolla tackles these urgent matters:

• Urgently attend the issue of water and electricity theft.
• Open criminal cases against all those responsible for financial misconduct or corruption.
• Fill the vacant priority posts.

Drastically and immediately deal with the excessive irregular expenditure on private security.

The ANC governing Msunduzi has a management and leadership crisis. They are failing to act on poor management, financial mismanagement and corruption timeously, effectively and decisively. Substandard service delivery has become institutionalised and it is causing havoc in the capital city.

Unless they institute consequence management and see those who are responsible for the collapse of Msunduzi convicted, we will hear the same excuses in the future.

Msunduzi needs to employ management that is fit for purpose. Management that is not employed through cadre deployment.

We look forward to the next session with the Mayor, and him touching on the real issues that need immediate attention to help recover this city.

The DA will continue to hold those accountable for this desperate situation in Msunduzi. We want to see corruption fall and good governance rise in the Capital City. Where the DA governs, this is possible, we only need a chance to restore Msunduzi to its former glory.

Issued by The DA