DURBAN - “USE the bins in the city, do not litter, come clean with us,” boomed a voice from the sound system on the corner of Anton Lembede (Smith) Street as about 100 volunteers gloved-up in a clean-up initiative in the city centre.
The volunteers were from City Story, an organisation consisting of nine churches from Durban.
The group cleaned Dr Pixley ka Seme (West), Anton Lembede and Park streets.
They also painted the Point police station and helped children cover their books for next year at Addington Primary School.
Their clean-up operations form part of a drive by eThekwini Municipality to make Durban clean and the city of choice.
A report published by Deloitte, titled “Driving Investment: Are Durban and KwaZulu-Natal ready?”, showed that the city and the province still lagged behind Johannesburg and Cape Town as an investment destination.
But Durban scored top marks when it came to attractive infrastructure and social environment.
“Durban scores particularly strongly in the dimension of attractive office rentals and slightly leads the pack on attractive industrial electricity rates,” the report said.
Durban had the lowest transport costs, making it a transportation leader, the report said.
Of those surveyed in the study, among them business, government and church leaders, only 20% thought Durban was more attractive than Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Those who had made financial investments in Durban were more likely to carry on investing here.
“About 56% are planning further investment in Durban and 60% are planning more in the greater KwaZulu-Natal region.
“A very high majority of all these investments will happen in the next one to two years (90% Durban investment and 82% KZN investment), with the remainder planned for the next three to five years,” the report said.
To improve on the attractiveness and competitiveness of Durban and the province, 73% of those surveyed said both needed to improve on service delivery and management.
A further 70% said improving administrative procedures and minimising red tape were key, while 57% of respondents said improving safety and security was important.
The tourism sector (81%), logistics and transport (61%), construction and manufacturing (both 50%), were seen as the four main drivers for investment in Durban for the next five years.
And if Durban is to achieve its tourism potential - it wants to see the city become SA’s premier tourism destination - a clean city will be important.
Carl Heinz-Uys, of City Story, said they want to make Durban a better place and encourage more volunteers to join the City Story, which had proved to be a success in other developed cities worldwide.
“We’re passionate about our city and believe as churches and businesses we have a lot to offer. The city cannot do it alone; we are the cause of and can be the solution to how our city looks,” he said.
Invest Durban volunteer Dumile Cele, Durban Chamber of commerce chief executive, said it wants to show citizens businesses are concerned about the well-being of society.
Businesses had displayed socio-economic conscience in partnering with civil society and government efforts to assist needy communities.
“The chamber has lauded businesses partnering with CityServe to meet the needs of our city. Cleanliness in the city is critical for business growth - tourism thrives and property values are enhanced.
“We congratulate CityServe for this initiative. We need all hands on deck to defeat society’s social ills,” she said.