Report Back: Inaugural DOCRRA Dedicated Meeting with KDM Exec

As announced at our 2022 AGM, DOCRRA had secured a dedicated quarterly meeting with the KwaDukuza Municipality to discuss issues and concerns of Dolphin Coast residents and ratepayers. 

The first of these meetings took place on 17 August 2022 at the council chambers of KDM in Stanger.  A delegation of five DOCRRA executive committee members attended including the Chairman, Deon Viljoen and Vice Chairman, Brian Botes.  They were joined by Her Worship, the Mayor of KwaDukuza, Cllr. L. Nhaca, the Speaker, Cllr. D. Govender, the Municipal Manager, Mr. Nhlanhla Mdakane as well as the majority of the executive directors of the municipality.  DOCRRA wishes to thank all those present from KDM for hosting this meeting, for their time, and for the in-depth presentations that were prepared. 

Amongst the highlights of this meeting were presentations on electricity losses, Dolphin Coast Waste Management, informal settlements, as well as investigations on Contour and Pro Secure. 

ELECTRICITY

Executive Director for Electrical Engineering Services, Mr. SM Jali, outlined a 15-point strategy to curb electricity losses over a 5-year period which includes technical, financial, institutional and social interventions, at a cost of R138,224,198 (over five years).  A great deal of this cost has already been sourced or budgeted. At present, non-technical losses are averaging 39.6 GWh, costing an average of R18M per month. Although we remain concerned about the cost-efficiency of some of these interventions, we look forward to following up on the plan progress at our next meeting.

DOLPHIN COAST WASTE MANAGEMENT

Executive Director for Community Services, Mr. Siyabonga Khanyile, also made a presentation, outlining the historical and present terms of the Public Private Partnership with Dolphin Coast Waste Management, including the increase in scope and costs seen in the last three years.  The contract and service itself are based upon the premise that each residence or commercial entity will pay for the number of bags collected per collection, per week.  At present, the challenge lies in billing for a surplus of bags being collected on what was believed to be a single ERF or business premises. 

Director Khanyile explained that, in many instances, a single ERF which formerly was home to a single household, has now been subdivided with granny flats or small cottages that accommodate additional households resulting in surplus waste.  A verification plan is in place to identify these areas so that billing can be adjusted accordingly, and each household or business receives a bill for the waste collection services they are using.  This represents a serious challenge and will require a physical survey of these areas.  Our expectation is that if this plan is implemented properly, KDM revenue losses, from waste removal services that are not paid for, will decrease. 

INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS

A brief report on the issue of informal settlements was given by Executive Director for Civil Engineering & Human Settlements, Mr. Muzi Sithole.  Five separate areas have been identified for housing projects across the municipality to address the desperate need for housing that we are facing.  Funds are currently available for two of these sites, but unfortunately one of the sites has already been invaded. 

When DOCRRA queried the timeline for these projects, as well as how many homes would be built, Mr. Sithole told us that they were still in the planning stages.  We highlighted the urgency of housing needs as many hundreds of people are living in homes that lack the most basic of services such as water, electricity, sewage and waste removal.  

DOCRRA also asked how KDM plans to address the need for containment of the current informal settlements, as well as preventing additional settlements from forming to which we were told that a dedicated unit has been established to remove land invaders at the earliest stage possible to prevent the development of a full-blown settlement.  There are also methods that will be employed to contain the settlements that already exist.  This is an area of grave concern for us, particularly in terms of the rate of growth of these areas, and the lack of timelines for the plans for containment and the provision of housing. 

CONTOUR AND PRO SECURE CONTRACTS

We received an update from the Municipal Manager, Mr. Mdakane, on the two separate investigations on Contour and the Pro Secure contract respectively. 

With regard to Contour, this investigation has been handed over to a private law firm and is at present approximately 50% complete.  As it is still under investigation, there is no further information to report, however, we expect to hear of the results when it has been completed. 

The Pro Secure contract issue is currently sub judice and as such no conclusions have been made there yet either.  Red flags were raised when the contract for Pro Secure that was borrowed from the Mandeni municipality was found to differ from the original. Different municipalities are permitted to utilise contracts on a “like for like” basis in that each detail of the contract must be exactly the same.  In this case, differences were discovered, and it is now being reviewed in court.  We have a commitment to feedback once legal processes are finalised. 

KDM Financials, IDP and MPAC

In addition to the presentations discussed above, very informative details were shared about the processes and procedures related to the Annual Financial Statements (AFS), Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC).  DOCRRA reiterated our commitment to participation in both the IDP and MPAC, as well as the budget process, both as a ratepayers’ association, and through our representatives on ward committee level.  We were pleased to hear that the AFS is on track for submission to the Auditor General. 

THE MEETING

This meeting served to provide a solid foundation moving forward for even further collaboration and sharing.  We are looking forward to following up, and building this relationship further at a date to be set in November. 

If you would like more details regarding the presentations mentioned above, please contact us on admin@docrra.co.za.