ETHEKWINI’s newly-appointed mayor, Cyril Xaba, is on a mission to combat some of the various concerns that have plagued communities such as the ongoing water crisis in recent months.
Xaba was speaking following his official appointment at a council sitting held at the ICC in Durban earlier today.
“I stand before you today with immense gratitude and a deep sense of responsibility, as I take the oath of loyalty to the Constitution and all other law.
“This honour you have bestowed on me is not one I take lightly. It is a responsibility I humbly accept, knowing very well the expectation that comes with the job. Thus, I pledge not to fail the residents of this beautiful city,” he said.
Xaba said the city’ priorities were clear - which was to improve water and sanitation infrastructure as well as ensuring uninterrupted water supply, to have a safe and clean city, to strengthen good governance and fight corruption, as well as attract investment and promote an inclusive economy that creates jobs.
“Early this month,I received reports that some parts of Hillcrest and Clermont extension, in the Pinetown area, were without water for an extended period. I found it utterly unacceptable. It degrades the quality of life of those affected and undermines their basic human rights.
“I shall write to the city manager to ask for a detailed report as to why the residents of Clermont and Hillcrest were without water. Whether such could have been prevented or at least mitigated. Whether there was negligence on the part of our officials, and the proposed course of action. I shall be following up on other areas that have been without water for a considerable period, and I will treat this as urgent,” he said.
Xaba said the city would also engage with all support teams with an intention of strengthening relations and ensuring that our work was aligned to adequately respond to the service delivery needs.
“We are acutely aware that building a functional and sustainable city requires a collective effort. In this regard, we want to commit to bolstering our working relations with the business sector to build a vibrant and resilient economy."
Xaba said to address the frequency of flood disasters, the city would review their strategies to adapt and mitigate the impact of climate change.
“It is critical that we have a functioning and effective early warning system that can help us to prevent the loss of life.
“Equally, our stakeholders in the built environment must collaborate with us to ensure that we build better and smarter. On our part as a city, we are going to insist that people desist from building in flood prone areas as we continue to avail suitable land for human settlement,” he said.
Xaba said the city was also determined to improve collaboration with all law enforcement agencies, including the SAPS to curb crime.
“We must also endeavour to adequately resource our metro police so that their presence is felt throughout the city. Over and above increasing the number of metro police personnel, we must invest in smart policing, using technology such as CCTV cameras to prevent crime.
“We want to remind our residents that fighting crime is a collective responsibility. Therefore, we pledge to collaborate with all legitimate community crime fighting structures within the city,” he said
Xaba said that In the next few days, the city would meet with all service delivery units to streamline their plans to clean the city, rehabilitate the roads, fix streetlights, maintain the sport facilities and parks, build houses, and deal with water and sewer leakages.
“From these engagements, we will be able to develop new approaches to accelerate service delivery. At the same time, we will be engaging Amakhosi, political parties, business community, organised labour, civil society, religious sector, and academia to solicit their input on how we can take the city forward.
I assure you of my total commitment to collaborate with all political parties and stakeholders to make this city work for its residents,” he said.
Xaba added that in the city’s effort to promote clean and accountable administration, they commit to continue to work with all institutions that are charged with a responsibility of enforcing good governance such as the Auditor-General, Treasury and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA).