Staff Reporter
The Democratic Alliance in eThekwini has demanded an urgent meeting of the municipality’s executive committee, saying Mayor Cyril Xaba should explain his handling of a court fight over municipal services and unpaid rates of R500 million by the KZN Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI).
On Friday, the Pietermaritzburg High Court ordered eThekwini and Msunduzi Municipalities to immediately reconnect water and electricity to DPWI facilities, including transport offices and licensing centres, amid a dispute over unpaid municipal accounts.
The full matter is scheduled for March 26, 2026.
“This judgment exposes serious failures in leadership that have now placed a heavy and unnecessary financial burden on the residents of eThekwini,” said DA eThekwini caucus leader Thabani Mthethwa on Saturday.
“We warned the mayor repeatedly, but his arrogance clouded his judgement. His failure to act responsibly and transparently has now resulted in ratepayers being forced to pay the legal costs for a case that could and should have been avoided.”
The DA also alleged governance and legal breaches, saying the episode was “in violation of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the City’s own credit control policy”.
Accountability should extend to senior management, it said.
eThekwini Municipality said it rejected the “misinformation being peddled by the Department of Public Works regarding the court order issued in respect of the R500 million arrear debt on rates”.
“We state categorically that the Pietermaritzburg High Court judgment does not favour the Department of Public Works, as suggested.
“On the contrary, the judgment strengthens eThekwini Municipality’s ability to ensure that the Department adheres to the payment plan, something it has repeatedly failed to do in the past,” the municipality said.
“Should the Department fail to comply with the court-ordered payments, it will be in contempt of court.”
The municipality said the court-ordered payment plan was:
- R50 million to eThekwini Municipality by 15 December,
- Payment of monthly instalments, on or before the 30th or the last day of April, May, and June, in the amount of R138,219,993.00.
“It is important to clarify that it was never the intention of eThekwini Municipality to hasten the disconnection of services to affected public facilities,” it said.
“The difficult decision to disconnect services was only taken after the Department of Public Works defaulted four times on signed payment agreements.”
The municipality also disputed the DA’s suggestion that the court considered a punitive cost order against the city manager, saying: “Our legal team has confirmed that this did not occur and is not reflected anywhere in the court order”.
“The only directive issued was for the city to return to court on 26 March 2026 to make representations as to why the order should not be made permanent.”
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