Water still holds Durban back, Ramaphosa tells Chamber as he praises its role after unrest and floods

President Cyril Ramaphosa has credited the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry with standing alongside government through the July 2021 unrest and the April 2022 floods, and used the Chamber’s 170th annual gala dinner in eThekwini on Wednesday evening to argue that the city’s recovery is under way but not finished.

Speaking in his keynote address, the President said the Chamber was at the forefront of the rebuild after the unrest. “It mobilised the business community, supported businesses that had been badly affected and worked with government to restore economic activity,” he said. Barely nine months later, he said, the province was struck by catastrophic floods, and the Chamber stepped forward again as government, business and other social partners repaired infrastructure, supported distressed businesses and restored operations at the Port of Durban.

The Chamber’s partnership with government extends to the Presidential eThekwini Working Group (PeWG), which Ramaphosa said was aimed at resolving challenges in the metro, including interruptions to water supply, poorly maintained and damaged infrastructure due in part to the 2022 floods, a decline in tourism numbers to the city, port efficiency concerns and crime.

He attributed the progress made through the working group in large measure to strong political and administrative leadership from the municipality and the province and the active engagement of national departments and public entities, and centrally to the involvement of the Chamber. “Through this partnership, we have seen improved metrics in areas such as municipal utility collections, non-revenue water and spending on repairs and maintenance,” he said.

But the President acknowledged that service delivery challenges, particularly with water, continue to “hold back recovery”. “There is still a significant infrastructure backlog that is constraining greater investment and better services for the people of the city,” he said.

He commended the eThekwini Metro Council on adopting the Development and Service Delivery Partnering Policy Framework, which he said responds to concerns about delays and red tape associated with implementing public-private partnerships. “We now need to put that framework to use to implement key infrastructure projects,” he said, adding that work must go forward to revitalise the city’s manufacturing and industrial zones and reduce the cost of doing business.

On the economic indicators, Ramaphosa said eThekwini secured the lion’s share of the R124.5 billion in investment commitments made at the recent KwaZulu-Natal Investment Conference, spanning manufacturing, automotive, infrastructure, logistics and tourism. He said the city’s tourism economy is on the rebound, with around 1.2 million visitors last festive season, and that Durban was ranked 14th in Time Out’s Best Places to Travel in 2026 and has hosted Africa’s Travel Indaba and the 46th SADC Summit this year.

He also cited Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, which he said confirms the metro achieved the lowest unemployment rate among South Africa’s eight metropolitan municipalities and was the only metro to record a decrease both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year. Employment in the metro now stands at 1.29 million, around 90,000 more than a year ago, he said.

At the Durban Gateway Terminal, he said security incidents and cable theft on the network have declined and that Transnet is procuring additional security to protect the central corridor that feeds the Port of Durban. The latest World Bank and S&P Global Container Port Performance Index has named the Port of Durban the most improved port in the world, he said, and disruptions following the migration of the terminal operating system are being addressed after a meeting between the Minister of Transport and terminal management.

“The signs of Durban’s recovery are clear,” Ramaphosa said. “This progress must be sustained and built upon as we work together to resolve outstanding challenges.”

This report is drawn from SAnews (South African Government News Agency), the government’s own summary of the President’s address rather than a full transcript, at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/president-ramaphosa-lauds-durban-chamber-government-collaboration.