AS Durban gears up to host the reSURGEnce Conference on July 24-28, opposition voices are growing louder. While the City reckons the global event, building on previous editions, has strengthened Durban’s standing as a destination for global business and investments, the DA stands firmly against the decision.

Vincent Mkhize, the DA PR councillor, stated, “The DA in eThekwini opposes the municipality’s decision to allocate R25m to the ReSurgence Conference, a global business conference with a significant Christian foundation, and calls for these funds to be redirected to service delivery, infrastructure, and core operations.

“The city is facing a deepening service delivery crisis. Residents are subjected to ongoing water cuts, recurrent power outages, deteriorating roads, and failing sanitation, while the municipality prioritises non-essential spending on conferences and events.”

Also read: Durban business confidence hikes amid service delivery concerns

Although the DA recognised the City’s mandate to promote social cohesion and attract visitors, “the primary responsibility of any municipality is to provide basic services”.

In defence of its decision, the City said, “The decision is supported by strong economic outcomes from the 2025 conference, which generated over R30m in direct economic impact, contributed about R74.3m to GDP, and created 134 jobs.

“To sustain this momentum, the Municipality has set aside R5m in the 2025/26 financial year for preparatory activities, with a further R20m allocated for hosting the main event in 2026/27.”

The reSURGEnce Conference, organised in partnership with the New York Times, will take place on July 24-28, at the Durban ICC. The conference reportedly aims to connect African entrepreneurs with the African-American diaspora, and encourage cross-continental trade and collaboration.

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