The KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN’s) permanent delegates to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) have expressed concerns over slow progress in addressing various administrative issues at the Port Shepstone Police station.
The problems that concerned the delegation were street lights around the police station, roof leakages and unavailability of a generator during load-shedding and shortage of government vehicles coursed by delayed repairs at government garages.
The delegation remains concerned that there was still no plans to fix the leaking roof at the police station and the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure was asked to fast-track that assistance of fixing the roof. The delegation was pleased that the station had been provided with a container for filing purposes and it was informed that a new commander for the government garage has been appointed to improve the turnaround time for vehicle repairs.
The delegation together with its counterparts, members of the KZN Provincial Legislature decided to use the second day of the Provincial Week programme to follow-up and track the status of issues emanating from the previous Taking Parliament to the People Programme that took place in Ugu District Municipality in November 2022.
The delegation visited the Port Shepstone Police Station which was identified previously with decaying and crumbling infrastructure which that must be refurbished. The station Commander further told the delegation that some of the teething problems were that there were no plans to assist the station to be able to transport detainees to Durban Westville prison.
The delegation was briefed by Ugu District Municipality on water and sanitation projects and service delivery challenges, the delegation expressed concerns over the slow progress in addressing water challenges and the fact that the municipality paid exorbitant prices for borehole installations, which did not provide water.
The delegation was told that in the last visit of the NCOP to the province, the Minister of the Department of Water and Sanitation, Mr Senzo Mchunu, committed an additional R150 million towards Water Services Infrastructure Grant Funding for the 22/23 financial year to Ugu District Municipality.
The Water Services Infrastructure Grant was used to implement projects such as, refurbishment of bulk meters and chamber valves across the District, emergency boreholes programme, refurbishment of mechanical and electrical infrastructure and borehole management system.
However, the delegation noted with great concern the exorbitant budget amount allocated for the borehole project at roughly R800 000 per borehole, which is more than the usual estimated amount of R50 000 to R100 000.The delegation also felt that the revenue debtor write-offs need to be guided by a legislation and due processes.
The delegation also visited the Dujana temporal accommodation houses as well as uMzumbe Cluster Project “A Rural Housing Project” that accommodate families that were affected by the April 2023 floods that took place in the Ray Nkonyeni, Umzumbe, Umdoni, and UMuziwabantu Local Municipalities.
Source: Parliament of South Africa