Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Nomusa Dube calls on KwaZulu-Natal municipalities to take a lesson from Durban’s latest achievement in demonstrating its commitment to protecting the environment through promoting green living and the ethos of green economy.
Dube says this as she heaps praises on the eThekwini Municipality, including its residents, for winning South Africa’s prestigious “greenest city” award, saying the environmentally-friendly municipality was setting a benchmark for high standards and sound administration among the 61 municipalities in the province.
The MEC, notably, also commends the residents, saying that “without you, the city authorities would find it difficult to reach its targets of creating an environmentally friendly environment, which has now led it to scooping this prestigious award”. Meanwhile, the MEC commends Newcastle municipality for finishing second in the category for local municipalities.
Durban has outflanked the City of Cape Town and City of Joburg, which finished second and third, respectively. “On behalf of the Provincial Government of KwaZulu-Natal, we are proud that by winning R3, 5 million and named as ‘the greenest city in South Africa’, the eThekwini Municipality continues to set the trend as an award-winning local government authority, and has demonstrated to our province and country that eThekwini and its citizens are leading the race in our collective campaigns, ranging from recycling to climate change planning, energy conservation, air and water quality management, biodiversity conservation and coastal planning.
We are confident - but we also call on the city authorities to ensure - that the millions that have come along with the prize will be ploughed back into service delivery,” says MEC Dube. In addition, the MEC notes that the latest prize is yet another addition to a pile of awards in the city’s cabinet – the one before this one being the remarkable Govan Mbeki Human Settlements award, which was won by eThekwini in June this year (2012), and which demonstrated that eThekwini was also a front runner in the delivery of houses to needy communities.
“Ever since Durban launched its ‘Imagine Durban’ environmental campaign a few years ago and then went on to host the COP 17 Conference, the Metropolitan city has become a role-model and leader in the green revolution,” she says. “Clearly, the eThekwini mayor, His Worship James Nxumalo, is delivering on his election mandate by ensuring that Durban continues to be a shining example when it comes to good governance, of which the green management is a critical aspect in the service delivery challenges of all municipalities as the contrary has a detrimental effect on infrastructure and the delivery of water and other services.”
MEC Dube, who will lead her department’s delegation to the COP 18 Conference in Qatar in the Middle East in December, is proud that Durban is taking a leadership position in showcasing South Africa’s efforts in addressing the global issue of climate change. “Durban has shown the way that there is a compelling need for everyone to harness the knowledge pertaining to climate change and share it with our communities. It is no longer an issue that should be discussed in air-conditioned conference rooms, but it is a growing societal responsibility.
We continue to implore other municipalities to take a lesson from eThekwini’s commitment,” Dube adds. Presenting the award to the Durban delegation, Deputy Environment Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi, congratulated the eThekwini officials for their efforts in transforming Durban into a greener city. The Greenest Municipality award has been modified from the old Cleanest City award to broaden the focus beyond just waste management and to encourage cities and towns to participate in green issues.
Contact:
Vernon Mchunu
Cell: 082 474 1882
Lennox Mabaso
Cell: 082 884 2403
