Municipality introduces new levy
Clairwood’s Ward 32 PR councillor, Sharmaine Sewshanker does not, however, support the new levy and shared that she voted against it in council.
AN INFRASTRUCTURE levy was introduced by eThekwini Municipality from Thursday, 1 July.
The levy was put in place to assist the municipality to upgrade the ageing infrastructure that affects the efficient supply of water and the treatment of sewage waste.
“This levy was approved at a full council meeting held on 27 May. The infrastructure levy will be charged at an additional R1.50/kl for water and R1.50/kl for sewerage disposal. The levy will run for three years to raise approximately R1billion that will be used to upgrade the city’s water and sanitation infrastructure,” said the municipality’s spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela.
The municipality has experienced an increased number of faults at pump stations and treatment works which have impacted negatively on the delivery of basic water services. “These faults are due to ageing infrastructure, but can also be attributed to external factors including vandalism, load shedding, and the population expansion in the municipality. The implementation of the levy will ensure continued operations and maintenance with increased reliability of the water supply.”
Mayisela added that the levy will further ensure both financial viability and infrastructure sustainability to continue with uncompromising water and sanitation service delivery. Clairwood’s Ward 32 PR councillor, Sharmaine Sewshanker does not, however, support the new levy and shared that she voted against it in council.
“We believe that the ratepayer should not be bearing the brunt for the failures of the municipality. The residents of eThekwini are already facing tough economic times and have not recovered from the effects of the hard lockdown imposed by the government last year. Clairwood residents have long suffered burst sewers, leaking standpipes, burst water meters, burst water main, shoddy workmanship and delayed response times for repairs. They endure days without water and are inconvenienced with sewer flooded yards and waterlogged without any permanent solutions in sight. Although residents in Clairwood pay rates like any other area in the city the service delivery in the area almost non-existent.
“I have fought long and hard on behalf of the residents of Clairwood and will continue doing so against the draconian leadership of the ANC in eThekwini. The only solution is a change of government.”
Supporting these views was Merebank’s Ward 75 PR councillor, Sthembiso Ngema who emphasised that the city needs to uplift the infrastructure but not at the expense of the ratepayers. “The city’s for the longest period has failed to do a proper budget so that they can cater for the crippling infrastructure. The same city is not quick to respond to water leaks and we, therefore, lots of water during such delays. The water department needs to put in place innovative ways of dealing with water issues, learn to repair or upgrade infrastructure on time and make proper planning.”
The Bluff’s Ward 66 councillor Zoe Solomon, said she was not aware of such the decision. “I won’t support it until I see these funds being used for maintenance and physically witness teams on the ground. Why does it take introducing a special levy when rates are paid every month of every year in the history of eThekwini?
“Those rates should have been budgeted and spent on maintenance every single year and we would have avoided the terrible degraded state of our infrastructure. We suffer weekly across ward 66 due to a lack of maintenance.
“However, when it starts I will support, of course, and celebrate, and be available for any assistance for the teams and the residents whilst the maintenance is undertaken as it will mean breaks in service delivery so I will have to be close to the ground. However, we need to stop living in a state of emergency and crisis and only get help when we are desperate and in shock and ill-prepared in our homes,” she said.
