The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal has launched a scathing attack on eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba, accusing him of “cheap politicking” following the City’s statement over R500 million in unpaid property rates allegedly owed by the provincial Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.
The Mercury reports that the mayor had issued a statement calling on KwaZulu-Natal Public Works and Infrastructure MEC Martin Meyer to settle the debt, which has resulted in the City cutting electricity and water services to the provincial Department of Transport’s licensing offices. The closure of these offices has left motorists unable to access essential vehicle and driver’s licence services.
DA KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Dean Macpherson condemned Mayor Xaba’s comments, claiming he had used council resources to launch a politically motivated attack on MEC Meyer.
“The DA condemns in the strongest possible terms the recent statement by ANC eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba, who has sought to abuse council resources to politicise his failures in the city and to attack Public Works MEC Martin Meyer,” Macpherson said.
He described Xaba’s efforts to blame the DA and the MEC for the City’s financial woes as “laughable but unsurprising”.
“eThekwini is in its current state because of Mayor Xaba and the ANC’s failures to govern. That is why the ANC only secured 14% of the vote in the city in the 2024 elections,” he added.
Macpherson further argued that it was disingenuous for the mayor to blame MEC Meyer for the City’s financial challenges.
“For the mayor to pretend that the MEC is responsible for billions of rand in debt is simply cheap politicking. This is the mess left by his party, which MEC Meyer is now working hard to clean up.”
He insisted that the City’s ongoing service delivery failures rest solely with the ANC, and predicted a DA victory in the next local government election would bring resolution.
In response, the municipality issued its own statement confirming that the provincial Department of Public Works and Infrastructure “currently owes the City over R500 million in rates, a debt it has already acknowledged”.
Mayor Xaba argued that the DA’s criticism of service delivery was undermined by its own failure to ensure payment of the outstanding debt by a senior party member in government.
He also accused DA members on the Executive Committee (EXCO) of running a “misinformation campaign” about beach water quality, insisting that the test results are compiled by “credible scientists”.
“I have committed myself to running a clean and transparent government,” said Xaba. “The DA is using selective information for cheap political point scoring.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure said it had approached the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to declare an intergovernmental dispute over the matter.
In a separate statement, the department acknowledged its obligation to settle the outstanding rates but cited ongoing difficulties in engaging with certain municipalities.
“The department remains fully aware of and committed to its obligation to pay the outstanding rates. However, some municipalities have not engaged in good faith, often shifting expectations. For example, while we acknowledge the R500 million owed to eThekwini, efforts to resolve the matter through direct engagement have largely failed,” the department stated.
It added that it was optimistic that, with Cogta’s intervention, a constructive resolution could be reached.
