Court showdown looms as eThekwini Municipality demands R500 million from Public Works

A tug-of-war over R500 million unpaid rates bill between the DA-led KwaZulu-Natal Public Works and Infrastructure Department and the ANC-led eThekwini Municipality appears to be headed for court.

In a surprise move last week, the municipality shut down water and electricity in the provincial government offices in demand for the full settlement of rates bills from Public Works. The action paralysed key services, particularly in Transport’s licensing centres.

This prompted a sharp response coupled by criticism from Public Works MEC Martin Meyer, who complained that the city’s demand of full settlement was unreasonable since his department had offered to pay the debt in terms.

On Monday, the matter degenerated into political war with eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba accusing the DA of being hypocrites in that it is attacking the city for service delivery failures, yet it says nothing about the party-led Public Works’ failure to pay the city’s R500 million debt.

Xaba said it was unfortunate that the DA continues to raise concerns about poor service delivery, and has recently taken the municipality to court over sewer infrastructure, while its own deployee in government is delaying to settle municipal debt that would help alleviate the very infrastructure challenges it complains about. He said the DA can’t speak from both sides of the mouth.

“At this moment, DA Executive Committee members in eThekwini are running a misinformation campaign regarding beach water quality results, which are conducted by credible scientists, yet their silence is deafening regarding the money owed to the city by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. These funds could significantly improve our infrastructure. We call on the DA to be truthful and honest with the public,” said Xaba 

He called on the DA EXCO members in the city to work with him to persuade the Department of Public Works to pay the outstanding debt as a matter of urgency.

Meyer hit back at Xaba, accusing him of politicising the matter. In his statement on Monday, he said his department was working every day to address the historical debt that has accumulated over many years, long before this administration took office.

He warned that if the municipality’s leadership continues to reject the payment plan that his department has submitted, he would have to look at legal options.

Meyer stated that he and department’s head, Dr Vish Govender, reached out more than 30 times to the mayor, the municipal manager, and the CFO of eThekwini to agree on a payment plan but they refused.

“The city’s conduct is irrational, potentially unconstitutional, and not aligned with lawful credit control. Credit control must be fairly applied and not used as a political weapon.

“On 28 November 2025, we formally declared an Intergovernmental Dispute under the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act. This is a legally mandatory process for resolving disputes between organs of state, however, eThekwini has chosen to ignore it entirely, in direct violation of the Constitution. This leaves us with no choice but to consider our options further,” said Meyer

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