Durban — A turnaround strategy for the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (Durban ICC) to become more competitive, commercially aggressive and profit-driven was presented by the board of the Durban ICC to the city’s executive committee, despite the centre contributing R6.3 billion to the gross domestic product and created 14 000 jobs in the 2019 fiscal year.
The Durban ICC’s operational challenges, business recovery, and turnaround strategy formed part of a presentation, followed by a site inspection of the facility, including the Durban Exhibition Centre on Tuesday.
The entity performed well before the Covid pandemic, with revenue and operating profits exceeding budget. It contributed R6.3 billion to the gross domestic product and created 14 000 jobs in the 2019 fiscal year.
However, the period from April 2020 to March 2022 was challenging for the entity, as it was for many other organisations. Despite this, the entity achieved a clean audit for three consecutive years and ensured that there were no retrenchments.
eThekwini Municipality Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda thanked the board for their work to ensure the entity remains a key revenue-generating asset for the city.
“We are grateful for the work of the board and pledge that the city would continue supporting the board in positioning the Durban ICC as the world-class facilities that it is,” Kaunda said.
He commented on the impact on service delivery of employees embarking on strike action, demanding overtime.
“We will not tolerate such irresponsible behaviour. We apologise to affected communities for the inconvenience caused,” Kaunda said.
He said city manager Musa Mbhele was instructed to implement consequence management against implicated employees.
“It must be clear that overtime is not a right but a privilege and therefore, the city is not going to be held to ransom by employees who undermine the rule of law,” Kaunda said.
The mayor also tackled issues that had been plaguing the municipality and residents of eThekwini.
Kaunda commended the city’s cleaning campaign which has received overwhelming support from all sectors of society.
“We want to encourage businesses, informal traders, and residents to work with us to keep the city clean. We have embarked on an intensive education and communication campaign to create awareness about the importance of disposing of litter in designated areas.
“We also note the concerns raised by both the business sector and the public regarding the ongoing challenges of sewer spillages into our water sources as we prepare to welcome visitors for the festive season,” he said.
Kaunda said that municipal teams were expediting repairs of pump stations, sewer mains and wastewater treatment works that are polluting our rivers and beaches.
He reiterated the city’s commitment to relocate flood victims from mass care centres to family-friendly accommodation before Christmas.
“Our teams from human settlements, among the three spheres of government, are working tirelessly to meet this deadline. By the end of November, we plan to relocate 2 000 families, with the remaining 1 448 relocated by December 15. It is important to mention that of the 120 mass care centres, we have been able to clear 62 through various interventions,” Kaunda said.
He said the court has finally granted the city leave to appeal the decision which resulted in the attachment of municipal assets from the Electricity Unit a few months ago.
“We are pleased that the Legal Services Unit has pursued the matter after we were initially denied leave to appeal against this decision. The municipality will now be in a better position to argue this matter in a higher court and we are confident of our prospects of succeeding,” Kaunda said.
Referring to the arrest of a municipal employee last week, Kaunda reiterated that the city remains committed to rooting out fraud and corruption.
“We want to assure the public that the municipality will cooperate with law enforcement authorities to ensure that we get to the bottom of this matter. The municipality has also commenced its own internal investigation to ensure that we leave no stone unturned in the fight against the scourge of corruption,” Kaunda concluded.
Daily News