The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provincial delegates to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) delegation, together with the KZN Legislature, visited various sites in and around Durban over two days to assess the state of service delivery.
The site visits included the KZN Children’s hospital (formerly Addington Children’s hospital) and McCord hospital which was at one time threatened with closure but rescued by government taking over the hospital. When speaking to a nursing sister at McCord, she was asked about the difference in the management of the hospital since the government takeover. She heartily responded, “There is a good story to tell”... to the delight of the NCOP members and other representatives.
The NCOP delegation also visited the Mansell road market which runs an employment creation project, visited a police station in Phoenix to gain first-hand knowledge of challenges in policing, a water purification plant in Umhlanga to assess the capacity and its state, after environmental and community health challenges were experienced as a result of an unfortunate sewage spillage, a housing development and they finally conducted an assessment of the progress on the construction of P577 road to Pinetown.
One of the highlights of the NCOP visit to Durban was the interaction with the local community and community leaders in the area of Chatsworth. An important part of public participation is the accessibility of MPs to their constituencies. Thus the Chatsworth community was able to present their concerns that related mostly to the lack of service delivery in their area. They also raised issues about them and their councillors. They pointed out that crime was a major issue in the area.
The NCOP concludes its Provincial Week programme, held under the theme: ‘Together making service delivery work for our people’, tomorrow (Friday 12 September) with a meeting with SALGA and municipalities to discuss ways of improving the allocation of resources, public participation and the maintenance of ethical professionalism that will lead to greater service delivery for communities.
