MK Party wants eThekwini mayor, municipal manager held responsible for city’s water woes

The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party wants the mayor of eThekwini and its municipal manager to be held personally responsible for the city’s water woes.

On Monday, the party opened several criminal cases of negligence against the two men at the Durban central police station.

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This comes on the back of a recent court ruling finding the municipality violated multiple environmental regulations by failing to address sewage spills into its rivers and beaches.

Last week, the municipality had to close four of its beaches due to pollution, but has since reopened three of them.

Speaking outside the police station, MK Party Member of Parliament Visvin Reddy said that there needs to be criminal accountability for the contamination of the city’s waters.

“If you’re an ordinary citizen here in SA and you go and pollute the environment or ocean, you will get charged and be put into jail. You go and build a building that is not up to standards, you are put into jail for it. So why is it that we cannot hold the mayor and the city manager and this leadership of the city accountable? They cannot hide from the people of Durban and make it seem like it’s somebody else’s fault.”