Mayor Mlaba continuously works on improving the eThekwini Municipality

Having been mayor since 1996, Obed Mlaba has enjoyed his tenure in this position at eThekwini Municipality. The last 15 years have been filled with both exciting times as well as challenges, but nothing has been able to sway his passion for the job.
Improving the lives of those who are poor and impoverished is what Mlaba is all about. Believing in being accessible to his people, he ensures he maintains a level of transparency and open lines of communication when it comes to serving the communities of the City of Durban. “I like to see development taking place, and seeing those who are disadvantaged get the services they need,” he says.

One thing which he is immensely proud of is the 2020 eThekwini Long-term Development Framework; from 2000, the Municipality began implementing some of the programmes that had been set out in this vision. One of the objectives contained in the document was to turn around the economy of Durban, which was standing at -3.4% every day – the economy has since improved and is now growing between 6.7% and 9%.

The Municipality aims to expand its infrastructure services; currently, it has 95% coverage of the area in which these services need to be delivered.

An improvement can be seen on the rural roads in the Emakhosini areas (traditional leader areas) since they have been tarred.

eThekwini has a high collection rate for rates, service payments such as electricity and water, and sanitation.

The Durban airport has been relocated to La Mercy, and is now the new King Shaka International Airport. Located next to the airport is the Durban Trade Port, which the Municipality wants to develop further as well. It carries more than 70% of cargo for African markets and could create a wealth of opportunities for the city of Durban residents.

“We’re right in the middle of our Framework, and have seen some good changes,” shares Mayor Mlaba.

In addition to this Framework, the Municipality has created a marketing strategy that aims to market the City of Durban as the events and sports capital of Africa.

In comparison to Johannesburg, the country’s industrial hub, and Cape Town – which is a huge tourist destination with a favourable Mediterranean climate – the City of Durban feels it can offer visitors a much more unique tourist experience. It has the largest international convention centre in Africa; its climate allows for summer temperatures all-year round; and has many diverse cultures that paint a colourful picture.

This year is an exciting one for this event and sports capital: eThekwini will be hosting the 17th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP17) in December, and there will be more than 35 000 delegates in attendance.

For the first time in 115 years, Africa will see the 123rd International Olympic Committee Session taking place on its shores, in Durban in July 2011 – with the hope that the 2020 Olympics will come to the city.

Internationally, Durban has been recognised for its Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) Fair as well as the Annual Tourism Indaba.

Running a municipality is no easy job, and one may come across challenges such as law changes, population increase and ever changing budgets.

When asked about the challenges he has experienced thus far, Mlaba shares: “The challenges that face eThekwini are the same as those that the whole country has.”

However, one particular issue that worries him is the high unemployment rate among Durban’s youth. This, he feels, is due to poor or lack of education that has failed to prepare and equip young South Africans with the skills that are much-needed in the country.

The rural areas of Durban, and the rest of South Africa alike, are often neglected and they are the ones that feel the brunt of poverty and impoverishment most acutely.

The Mayor is determined to change this situation for the rural communities in eThekwini.

In a bid to give these communities a better chance at survival and proper education, the initiatives that look to address the problems have been planned and are part of the 2020 Framework.

The most recent project is the expansion of the city’s fibre-optic cables in all areas of the metro, from the townships to the rural areas. The aim is to see that every young person, irrespective of location, has access to the Internet.

In addition, the Municipality is looking to run an exchange programme so that pupils from rural schools and those from urban schools can share and exchange experiences. “We are creating those (strategies) for different schools, so that they continuously have today’s kind of exposure with one another and help one another move forward,” says Mlaba.

The Mayor is not only passionate about his people; environmental issues are also close to his heart. “A lot of greening takes place in the city – we are planting trees around the city,” says Mlaba. “Every year, our Department of Horticulture aims to produce not less than a million trees, which we distribute around different communities.”

Many of the trees that are distributed bear fruit, and ordinary trees can be used as shelter for shade and others to protect homesteads against wind.

Mlaba is a member of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change. “It’s a world organisation that is trying to push for recognition of problems that face cities and local government,” he explains.

Since 2006, eThekwini has been hit by various elements of nature that are brought on by climate change. The most recent has been the storms that washed out about 150 reconstruction and development programme houses, and killed about nine people in Emolweni, in the west of the city.

KwaZulu-Natal as a whole has been experiencing high levels of lightning, floods and heavy waters.

Due to these and the fact that Durban is very vulnerable to climate change, Mayor Mlaba has always been conscious of what should be done to mitigate this and adapt the city to withstand the ravages of nature.

Tamara Toti