The eThekwini Municipality is sifting through a feasibility study to establish an Inner-City Development Company to address the flight of economic activity from the Durban CBD.
At a full council sitting, on Thursday, city manager Musa Mbhele and the Economic Development and Planning Committee were granted authority to proceed with the implementation of internal Inner City Institutional arrangements with internal interventions to enhance service delivery in the inner city and also to introduce interim arrangements until the proposed Inner City Development Company is formally established.
In a report, the municipality stated that the Durban Inner-City has been experiencing several challenges, including organisation-wide municipal service delivery challenges, such as theft, vandalism, and maintenance of infrastructure.
“This has contributed towards a flight of economic activity from the inner-city through the loss of investor confidence and with better and more modern locations outside of the inner-city, serving as attractions for the relocation of existing investments as well as the attraction of new investments,” the municipality stated.
The Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) in the National Treasury was appointed in March 2024 to develop an appropriate institutional mechanism/s to respond to the challenges. A diagnostic, local and international best practice review and options analysis has been completed.
The findings from the Diagnostic indicate a large number of city-wide and inner-city specific problems that relate to internal municipal challenges including insufficient resources to manage the inner-city.
Other problems include:
- lack of aligned planning and budgeting
- lack of alignment between administrative structures and regional administrative and service delivery boundaries
- poor and uneven basic service delivery
- inadequate to non-existent social development
- inadequate property development and management, including inner city housing opportunities
- inadequate maintenance and urban management; the absence of a coherent integrated property, facility management and catalytic project strategy and management related to the inner city
- and high levels of distrust between the private sector, civil society and the municipality.
The analysis recommended the establishment of an institutional mechanism that can operate outside the core municipality due to the urgency and need to address the decline of the inner city.
During the council meeting, Councillor Heinz De Boer said the formation of a company was a step in the right direction. De Boer said in the past 15 years businesses have relocated to the northern and western areas of the municipality.
“There needs to be an integrated plan and proper coordination from all role-players to ensure the plan is sustainable. The Durban CBD needs to be a catalyst for change for other areas inclusive of the beachfront. We will watch this process and conduct oversight for a seamless integration of services. The area around the port can also be transformed into an economic zone. We hope these plans are on track before the 2026 elections,” De Boer said.
The municipality also intends to establish a World Trade Center in eThekwini through the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Durban International Convention Centre (Durban ICC), by the acquisition of a license from the World Trade Centers Association(WTCA). At the council meeting, the Head: Economic Development was granted authority to disburse R5.5 million in funding to the ICC for the purpose of acquiring the license.
According to the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) NPC, the Durban Business Confidence Index for 2024 Quarter 4 was recorded at 60.74%
Pales Phili, CEO of DCCI said as organised business, they believed the findings provide a true reflection of the mood of the business community in Durban. “The report outlined that easing macroeconomic conditions together with government interventions to revitalize Durban sustained business confidence above the 50-point mark. While business confidence declined by 3.6% from Quarter 3 to Quarter 4, overall, it remains confident,” Phili said.
Phili said they are confident that through collaboration and robust discussions between the private and public sector they will be able to make a difference and solve challenges.
“There is a need for clear and direct conversations on delivery with the private sector. Let us work together to make Durban a better place” she said.