Two of the majority parties in eThekwini, the DA and the ANC, summarise their stance on the 2026/27 budget.
Image: ChatGPT
ANC eThekwini Councillor Bheki Mngwengwe has acknowledged that the party has not always met the expectations of the people, but he said what defines a movement is not whether it makes mistakes but whether it dares to correct them.
Mngwengwe was speaking at Friday's council meeting, where the eThekwini Municipality's R75.3 billion budget and tariff increases for 2026/27 were approved.
The tariff increases include electricity (9%), property rates (2%), water (domestic 12% and business 13%), sanitation (8% for domestic and 9% for business), and domestic refuse (9.5%) from July 1, 2026.
Mngwengwe stated that the ANC supported the budget due to its 2021 manifesto and commitment to renewal.
“We have heard the frustrations of our people. We are restoring the capacity of the state to deliver. We are doing so with accountability, discipline, and urgency.”
Mngwengwe said the budget focused on housing, a transport system that opens the doors of opportunity, and ending the era of excuses with engineering services.
“The budget must be implemented with zero tolerance for waste and underperformance, zero tolerance for corruption and maladministration, and full accountability to the people who elected us,” he said.
However, DA eThekwini Caucus Leader Councillor Thabani Mthethwa, said they rejected the newly passed municipal budget because it failed to respond meaningfully to the financial and service delivery crisis facing the city.
Mthethwa said the municipality’s finances are in crisis and that communities across the city continue to suffer the consequences of collapsing infrastructure.
He stated that residents face unresolved water leaks, causing clean drinking water to flow into the streets, prolonged water outages, and sewage spills contaminating roads and beaches, while plumbing contractors remain unpaid for months on end and are often forced to down tools.
Mthethwa also outlined water and electricity losses amounting to billions of rand.
“Uncollected debt has increased by almost R1 billion in the past two months and now exceeds R45.4 billion, more than 50% of the municipality’s newly adopted budget. The eThekwini coalition of parties has demonstrated its inability to manage public funds responsibly, and the DA has no confidence in its handling of this new budget.”
Residents, he said, cannot rely on the figures presented in this budget either because, within months, requests to reprioritise funds from one project to another will once again surface.
“Incomplete housing projects amid a housing crisis, together with flood victims who remain without permanent housing years later, are clear evidence of this poor financial planning,” he said.
eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba said when he was appointed as mayor approximately two years ago, he found a city of immense potential wrestling with structural challenges, such as inner-city decay, ageing infrastructure, water demand which exceeds supply, crime and grime, as well as high levels of unemployment, particularly among the youth.
“My administration did not look away from these realities. We confronted them. I can report that the trajectory of eThekwini has fundamentally changed,” he said.
Xaba said the results are tangible as demonstrated by the sharp increase in business confidence, direct tourism spending, and projects that are set to significantly enhance the tourism experience for visitors.
“We have not solved every problem. We continue to face a significant housing backlog, as evidenced by more than 600 informal settlements and over 40 transit camps resulting from ongoing rural-to-urban migration. Water supply challenges also persist, while infrastructure theft and vandalism remain stubborn.”
He said the budget prioritises the acceleration of repairs, the upgrading of bulk infrastructure, and the full implementation of trading services turnaround strategies.
Xaba said the eThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS) is implementing a comprehensive turnaround strategy and institutional governance reform roadmap.
“The trading services reform programme will further improve service delivery, with a specific focus on water, sanitation, electricity, and refuse services. Decisive consequence management will be implemented against corruption, maladministration, poor performance, and any form of abuse of public resources.”
zainul.dawood@inl.co.za