The eThekwini Municipality says the City will benefit from more than half a billion rand in rates income when the Westown Square development in Shongweni is completed.
The first phase of the development was launched on Thursday.
Delivering his address at the launch, eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba said: “Westown Square is expected to generate approximately R 21 million per annum in rates income (first phase). It is anticipated that rates income will exceed R 500 million per annum upon completion of the development in 2037.”
The City invested R600 million in bulk infrastructure in the area.
Xaba told business people at the launch that the City will partner with them in bringing development and it is making an efforts to address many of the challenges that affect business.
The mayor said the municipality is working hard to address service delivery challenges to ensure that these do not affect business and investment.
“We are working hard as a City to secure and attract more investment. For this reason, we are rolling out far-reaching reforms in our trading services units, which include water and sanitation, electricity, and waste management.”
He added that at the heart of these reforms is increased operational efficiency, improving service quality and reliability by investing in infrastructure.
“Although this is a country-wide programme being implemented in all metros, I am pleased to report that eThekwini is at the forefront of implementing these reforms. I am confident that within a period of one to three years, we will begin to see results, particularly in water and sanitation, because we have already started to implement the water turnaround strategy action plan.”
“Therefore, you must rest assured that as you continue to implement the next phases of this development, some of the challenges you have encountered pertaining to water and sanitation infrastructure will be history. We are also rolling out tough measures to fight crime, including investing in smart policing to secure our residents and assets,” he said.
THE MERCURY