The KwaZulu-Natal government inherited massive service delivery backlogs when it took over Umzimkhulu from the Eastern Cape.
The incorporation of Umzimkhulu into KZN's Sisonke District Municipality has also increased the number of people by about 174 000 which almost doubled the population of Sisonke up to 450 000.
That was the gloomy picture painted by provincial leadership when President Thabo Mbeki visited the area this weekend.
The R51,5-million allocated by the National Treasury for the incorporation of Umzimkhulu into KZN early 2006 was described as a "drop in the ocean" when compared to the massive service delivery problems.
Essential public institutions such as schools and hospitals in the area are in a total disrepair and the provincial leadership has appealed to Mbeki to intervene by pumping more funds in a form of an infrastructure grant to the municipalities in the area.
The aim of Mbeki's visit was to get a first hand account of the service delivery challenges facing the town and its outlying rural areas.
Mbeki was told that a recent assessment by the provincial department of transport revealed that the area of Umzimkhulu needed R1,1-billion for road infrastructure.
They said poor road networks hampered economic development. Another problem facing Umzimkhulu is perennial water shortage for the people.
Umzimkhulu residents pleaded with Mbeki and provincial authorities to abolish the bucket toilet system. Umzimkhulu has a total of 100 bucket toilet systems.
Teachers in the area were also angry because they had not been paid since June.
The KZN education department said the teachers had to collect their salaries from the Eastern Cape until March 2007.
Mbeki's KZN visit began in Pietermaritzburg's St John's Diocesan School on Friday and ended in Umzimkhulu's Riverside area on Saturday.