Des Erasmus
eThekwini city manager Musa Mbhele said on Monday that the metro wants to narrow its trust deficit with business and will prioritise infrastructure repairs to do so.
He made the comments at a meeting with captains of industry in Durban, focusing on businesses in the South Durban Basin.
Corporates in the precinct, particularly in the Prospecton area where Toyota South Africa is situated, have repeatedly criticised the city over water supply interruptions, traffic management and the stench in the area.
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Mbhele said that R500 million had already been invested in infrastructure improvements in the basin. He claimed that about 90% of electrical infrastructure had been replaced, including transformers.
He said road markings had been restored, canal maintenance undertaken, and that two of three pump stations were operational, with one being upgraded.
The meeting comes as the municipality tries to stabilise services in an industrial and logistics precinct that has for years been identified as a strategic hub for growth.
In an August meeting last year, the city discussed “critical enablers” with Toyota, such as road upgrades, stable electricity supply and improvements to water and sanitation in Prospecton. Businesses have been calling for the improvements for at least five years.
Pressure from corporates in the city led to the establishment of the Presidential eThekwini Working Group in 2024, at the same time that a Section 154 intervention was announced.
The working group is expected to report progress to the president and ministers every three weeks. The intervention was set to last for 24 months.
President Cyril Ramaphosa referenced the working group in his State of the Nation Address in February, saying government would continue “targeted support” to improve basic services through presidential working groups in eThekwini and Johannesburg.
Ramaphosa said progress in “stabilising” eThekwini had helped investor confidence return.
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The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry said earlier this month that its Durban Business Confidence Index increased to 63.38 in the fourth quarter of 2025, the highest since the index was started.
Although this reflected a more positive business sentiment, said the chamber, it would need to be sustained.
The chamber said confidence increased across manufacturing and transport and financial services. This, it said, could be linked to the improvement to macroeconomic easing, festive-season demand and a better operating environment.
The shift in sentiment could also be attributed to the 77% accommodation occupancy and 6.8 million beach visitors over the festive season, it said, and the city’s improved security measures and cleaner beaches.
But the chamber said structural constraints were still weighing on business.
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According to the index, two-thirds of respondents believed service-delivery complaints were unlikely to be resolved in a timely manner, although this represented an improvement from the prior quarter. The chamber said infrastructure, security and basic service delivery needed further improvement to strengthen confidence.
It said the city and other authorities needed to do more, including reducing the cost and improving the ease of doing business, addressing backlogs at the port, fast-tracking catalytic projects, and responding to the influx of cheap imports.
The chamber said it wanted “more action-oriented solutions” alongside collaboration and dialogue between business and government.
Mbhele said at the Prospecton meeting that “major cities are built through strong partnerships” and that narrowing the trust deficit was key to improving cooperation and transparency.
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