Ekurhuleni mayor warns there are ‘no shortcuts’ in service delivery

Ekurhuleni mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza has warned municipal officials that there are no shortcuts when it comes to governance, compliance and ethical conduct in the metro.

Xhakaza gave an an update on the state of governance matters in the metro at a media briefing on Friday in Germiston, east of Johannesburg.

He warned that officials found guilty of flouting procurement rules, financial controls or any administrative processes would face severe consequences.

“We are not here to protect individuals. We are here to protect the institution and serve residents,” he said.

Xhakaza said his administration was strengthening oversight mechanisms to ensure that projects were implemented within legal frameworks after concerns were raised about wasteful expenditure and delayed service delivery.

“Infrastructure in the metro remains our biggest challenge, including electricity networks, water systems and roads as key contributors to deliver service,” he said.

He added that the city prioritises maintenance and exploring funding models to support and invest in long-term infrastructure.

“We do acknowledge the residents’ frustrations regarding repeated outages and we are working to improve our communications and response times,” Xhakaza said.

TimesLIVE