HIBISCUS Coast Municipality will be amalgamated with Ezinqoleni while Umdoni will be amalgamated with Vulamehlo. This was revealed by Municipal Demarcation Board chairman Landiwe Mahlangu recently.
Fifteen KwaZulu-Natal municipalities will be merged with others in 2016, to reduce the number of local governments in the province from 61 to 54. KZN has been the most affected province with the number of of municipalities reduced by seven.
In April the demarcation board released a circular proposing doing away with at least two municipalities in the province and merging six to form three.
“The municipal landscape is going to change after the next municipal elections in 2016 following the final decision of the Municipal Demarcation Board on the redetermination of municipal boundaries,” said Mr Mahlangu.
The KwaZulu-Natal Democratic Alliance has called on the MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), MEC Nomusa Dube, to ensure that proposed changes to the province’s municipal boundaries are not bulldozed through and to take the matter back to the public for further consultation.
“Given the many objections the DA believes that the public has a right to be consulted again,” said DA’s George Mari, who is a member of the provincial parliament.
He said even though changes look good on paper, with weaker municipalities absorbed into those more financially viable and able to offer improved service delivery, the province has a duty to provide adequate gap funding so that one group of ratepayers does not end up subsidising another.
“As an opposition party we are committed to monitoring the demarcation process in KwaZulu-Natal. We urge the MEC to engage with the public once more around this sensitive issue – their voices must be heard,” he concluded.
“There was lengthy and substantial consultation with all political parties, chiefs, and all concerned,” said Sihle Zikalala ANC’s provincial general secretary. He added that reality is that some of these municipalities need to be integrated.
