With the Durban harbour again awash with raw sewage, questions by the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Legislature have revealed that eThekwini municipality is, in fact, the biggest polluter in the province.

According to the reply (view here), from KZN Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC, Ravi Pillay, of the 34 compliance notices and directives issued under the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA)– eThekwini has received 12 warnings.

Of these, all 12 relate to crumbling municipal infrastructure. Economic Development Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) officials go on to say that: “The majority of these S28 notices were in relation to sewer spillages resulting from malfunctioning of sewer pump stations.”

The list of offenders includes ongoing issues at the Blackburn Pump Station, Paradise Vally Sewage, Isipingo River, Umbilo Canal and Umgeni River.

While the current political leadership may soon be shown the door, it is too little too late for eThekwini in many respects.

Certainly, they have laid waste to the tourism and economic development potential of the city. The Golden Mile, Blue Lagoon, and all major tourism hotspots are contaminated – and put up a lacklustre fight against other tourism offerings, both locally and abroad.

KZN is a province with tourism and massive job creation potential that lies undeveloped. Quite how the managers of defaulting municipal departments keep their jobs is beyond comprehension. Poor municipal management can no longer be allowed to ruin the lives of so many who are languishing under a blanket of unemployment.

The DA will continue to push for errant officials to be criminally prosecuted. It is unacceptable that MEC Pillay and KZN’s EDTEA portfolio committee remain toothless in this battle. Now is the time for them to flex their political muscle and bring the full might of the law against City Managers.

It is only once the spirit of the Constitution and NEMA are upheld that action will be taken.

 

 

Issued by DA KZN Spokesperson on EDTEA, Heinz de Boer, MPL