DURBAN - THE eThekwini Municipality is developing a safety plan to ensure it is not caught off guard by unrest similar to the incidents that ravaged KwaZulu-Natal last month.
Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda told members of the municipal executive committee during a meeting yesterday he will be meeting with law enforcement agencies on the plan.
He said the plan would be ready to be tabled before members of the executive committee next week. The plan will aim to keep the residents of the city safe.
The DA had raised concerns that safety of the public was a serious issue and a plan needed to be tabled urgently.
DA councillor Yogis Govender said the public had been left traumatised due to the unrest and were living in fear that it could happen again.
She said councillors were unable to calm communities on edge when they also did not know what the plan was.
Kaunda also revealed that the municipality is still dealing with the fallout from the riots and was in constant contact with businesses to ensure they remained in the city.
He said a major technology company was contemplating ceasing their operations in Durban and said he hoped the company changed this position and remained.
“We have engaged with them and informed them that if they are not comfortable with their current sites, there is still space available at the Dube Trade-Port where other companies are based.”
Kaunda said the City was also working with the taxi industry that was negatively affected by the riots. He said the burning of malls had meant some taxi routes had become non-profitable and ssome operators were facing financial challenges.
“We cannot leave the taxi industry out of the recovery process,” he said.
THE MERCURY