Africa-Press – South-Africa. Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) leader Philani Mavundla says he will join ActionSA’s court application as a friend of the court in the hope that the eThekwini metro and other government departments will be compelled to resolve the ongoing sewage crisis in Durban.
“Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) has decided to support Action SA in their court action by simply becoming a friend of the court, so that we can be in the position to place before the judge the facts of what has transpired [in] eThekwini,” Mavundla said on Tuesday.
ActionSA’s legal team has asked the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban to compel government entities tasked with resolving the ongoing sewage and infrastructure crisis to appoint an independent party to guide the process.
The case is expected to be heard on 27 February.
At a press briefing outside Durban City Hall with ActionSA’s KwaZulu-Natal leader, Zwakele Mncwango, Mavundla said he would use his expertise and knowledge from his time as chairperson of the City’s human settlements and infrastructure portfolio committee to assist the court.
“We brought every issue [in the city] to the attention of the ANC, and they would rather remove me than listen to what I have to say. As a result, businesspeople lost their income and residents are suffering.”
Mavundla was removed from the executive committee (exco) and stripped of his deputy mayor position in December 2022. The ANC claimed he was not moving fast enough to resolve maintenance issues in the city.
Mavundla failed to have the removal overturned.
He was instrumental in helping the ANC retain much of its power in eThekwini in 2021, when he led a bloc of smaller parties to help the ruling party maintain the executive.
“The ANC in eThekwini says we are open for business. But who wants to swim in sewage? Nobody. The reality is we need the infrastructure restored, even if we have to go to court,” Mavundla said.
“The message is simple, if you still have an ounce of conscience, this country cannot be a country under the ANC,” he added.
Mncwango said they intended to call on the court to order the City to fulfil its mandate.
“They (officials) have information and know what the issues are in Durban. This City has a budget of over R50 billion and that was even underspent. Now, the big issue is the political will. We want the court to make an order and have other ministers come on board to fix this dire situation.”
He added that in a responding affidavit, the economic development, tourism and environmental affairs (Edtea) department showed that it had been trying to fix the eThekwini metro for some time.
“They have indicated in their court-paper responses that they have been having meetings and telling the City what they’re supposed to do. They have even opened criminal cases against some officials.”
In the responding affidavit, Bonginkosi Dlamini, the Edtea’s acting chief director and director of compliance, monitoring and enforcement maintained that the eThekwini municipality was liable for failing to manage sewage, even before the April 2022 floods.
Dlamini said the department had laid criminal charges against eThekwini manager of water and sanitation, Ednick Msweli, former City manager Sipho Cele, and current City manager Musa Mbhele.
He said the charges were related to the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA).
“Various criminal cases were opened against the municipality [and officials] in respect of various contraventions, relating to various areas of contravention.”
Dlamini then outlined specific cases opened in Eiderwood Close, Phoenix, Isipingo Lagoon, Winkelspruit Lagoon and Umhlanga Lagoon.
In a statement issued by Kaunda’s spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa, the City noted the action taken by Mavundla and Mncwango.
“Our legal team is preparing an opposing affidavit and is still within the timelines to respond. However, we want to reiterate our call to Councillor Philani Mavundla and Action SA to share with the relevant authorities whatever information they have that supports their view that the leadership of the municipality has committed wrongdoing.”
Mntungwa said the municipality “is working round the clock to fix sewer lines that were damaged by the floods”.
“Our starting point had to be pump stations as these are critical in preventing pollution of our rivers and the sea. Now that we have fixed the pump stations, we have begun to connect our sewer lines.
“We want to reassure eThekwini residents that we remain committed to running a clean and transparent administration.”
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