ActionSA does not believe meditation will resolve eThekwini sewerage crisis

27 February 2023

ActionSA is not confident that mediation between the applicants and the various respondents in our court case against the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and the Minister of Tourism inter alia, would resolve in a successful resolution of the ongoing sewerage crisis in eThekwini. To the contrary, we are of the view that it is a delaying tactic for the state to avoid accountability. 

Three respondents in our court case, the eThekwini Municipality, City eThekwini Mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, and Tourism Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, failed to file answering affidavits, but on Monday morning asked the KwaZulu-Natal High Court to refer the matter for mediation to resolve the ongoing dispute with the metropolitan.

To this end our Minister of Tourism, Ms Sisulu, is more concerned with footballs games in the United Kingdom than she is about her own citizens in eThekwini. Nothing she has suggested would alleviate the suffering of people in KwaZulu-Natal. Rather, she serves to benefit wealthy football teams in the United Kingdom, who she ironically slams as colonialists.

The court postponed proceedings to 3 April 2023 for the respondents to file answering affidavits, and should they fail to file their papers, ActionSA will apply for a preferential date, and the matter will be heard on the opposed date.

ActionSA is not confident that a mediation will assist the people of eThekwini - who for months have been suffering with polluted water due to the municipality’s failure to repair sewer infrastructure. The time for talking ended before we issued papers to the High Court to compel the sited government institutions to act within their constitutional obligations.

The people have lost confidence in this government, and ActionSA believe the request for mediation is another delaying tactic they have up their sleeves, which will not yield the results we are looking for.

Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) President Cllr Philani Mavundla - who chaired the Infrastructure Committee during his time as eThekwini Deputy Mayor and who joined our litigation against the city - has provided damning evidence that the city ignored the issue of dilapidated infrastructure.

Furthermore, the information provided by Cllr Mavundla serves as proof that all levels of government have been aware of the issue, including the non-action of President Cyril Ramaphosa himself.

KwaZulu-Natal Pemier Nomusa Dube-Ncube lied during her response to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) when she told President Ramaphosa and the people of South Africa that all sewerage infrastructure in eThekwini had been repaired, and that no sewerage is flowing into the ocean.

We call upon other political parties, NGOs and others who have been vocal about their issues to join our litigation against the city, and fight for better service delivery for the people of eThekwini.

The people of eThekwini need our infrastructure sorted whether it is sanitation, the supply of water, electricity, roads, and sewerage treatment or otherwise.

We no longer need to be ignored in this country as citizens at the expense of government control. The time for action is now, and that is why ActionSA will do everything in its power to ensure that the rights of those living in eThekwini is protected.

Issued by Zwakele Mncwango, ActionSA KZN Provincial Chairperson, 27 February 2023