Dear Members,
As you are aware, the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the office of President Ramaphosa, launched the Presidential eThekwini Working Group (PeWG) in February of 2024, the working Group was established to address service delivery challenges, that are impacting the ease of doing business in eThekwini. As part of the progress update tracking, the Durban Chamber requested quarterly feedback sessions where the business community of eThekwini is given progress update on deliverables. The first official feedback session was hosted in November 2024 with President Ramaphosa and the business community of eThekwini, from this session several service deliverables were committed to, with expected outcomes and timelines.
Post the last session as the chamber we did a follow-up with the office of the President as we were concerned with the level of slow progress on the project, it was beginning to lose momentum, and we needed to act. The office of the President, responded with a proposed date and we hosted the second feedback session on the Tuesday, 13th May 2025.
At the engagement business noted that some areas have experienced improvement which includes police visibility, and turnaround plans being approved however we are starting to witness the loss of momentum and inadequate results to date. DCCI believes if we do not mitigate against potential risks and address operational issues within the PeWG, this platform will merely be a government-to-government engagement with business operating in isolation resulting in the PeWG being ineffective.
From the business engagement we would like to give an update to you as our members of the outcomes, concerns, and deliverables :
Core Business Concerns:
· Infrastructure Failures: Recurring issues raised include erratic water and electricity supply, poor project execution (e.g. pipe overlays, pump station delays), broken sewer systems, and unaddressed maintenance backlogs—especially affecting South Durban Basin.
· Stalled Investment & Bureaucracy: Delays in unlocking catalytic sites like the Natal Command Film Studio due to non-provision of electricity and high rates valuation (R900m) were raised as high-priority blockages.
· Financial Model Stagnation: The joint funding model has been under discussion for years with no implementation; business stressed urgency in adopting proven models from other platforms like NLCC to accelerate infrastructure maintenance.
· Safety & Security: While business welcomed Metro-police collaboration and SAPS coordination, they flagged:
o Slow progress on key initiatives (e.g. anti-hijack forum, port scanners).
o Exclusion of private sector reps from meetings and operational task teams.
o A call for clarity on what intelligence and infrastructure information can be shared.
· Tourism Disconnect: Complaints that tourism revitalization efforts are not inclusive, poorly coordinated, and fail to build a city-wide calendar of events in collaboration with business.
Business Requests & Proposals
· Establish a clear deliverables matrix with specific project timelines and accountability mechanisms to track performance and measure impact.
· Revisit timelines for the PPP/financial model – business argued December 2025 is far too late, especially with election cycles and private sector decisions pending in next 12–18 months.
· Formalize private sector roles in workstreams and technical forums.
· Better use of social facilitation in infrastructure projects to prevent extortion and include local communities in project planning.
Government & Secretariat Commitments
· Acknowledgement of the plateau and the need to shift gears into an implementation-focused mode.
· Agreement that the financial model timeline must be brought forward; secretariat and city to revise with milestones.
· Proposal to formally clarify which safety and justice discussions are open to business and improve transparency in coordination efforts.
· Call for building a structured partnerships framework and support for key PMOs (e.g. for events/tourism pipeline).
· Secretariat welcomed the offer of technical support from business (e.g. SABO’s PPP team) and noted the need to boost capacity on both sides.
The meeting proved to achieve the objective of airing our concerns on the slow progress of the project post the project implementation in 2024. We as the business community also were able to address the office of the presidency on a way forward towards tackling the issues that we have presented. However, we are not done we as business community representative will continue to advocate and lobby until we believe the progress is moving us forward as business community towards a sustainable economy and a business environment that is conducive for businesses to thrive in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
As our members we will continue to keep you updated on progress.
President and CEO
