EThekwini hosts fruitful
engagement with Editors
IN A bid to strengthen media relations the Mayor Councillor Mxolisi Kaunda, invited all Editors to introduce the newly elected leadership to the captains of newsrooms. The municipality views the media as one of its important stakeholders, indispensable for it to aggressively advance the agenda of development. Deputy City Managers had an opportunity to shed some light on the anatomy of their clusters and the strides that have been made by the municipality to meet the needs of all its stakeholders. Cllr Kaunda commended the media fraternity for the good work it is doing of being the eyes and the ears of the public. He urged it to continue to keep the municipality on its toes but also humbly appealed to them to also pay attention to the good developmental work it is doing against all odds to improve the wellbeing of its residents. He also communicated mega plans that are afoot to grow the economy of eThekwini which at the heart of it, is the advancement of Radical Economic Transformation. ''With this gathering we want to send a clear message to the media that we value its existence. We are of the strong conviction that we cannot strengthen our democracy without the media on board. We are not saying it must heap praises on us, but we humbly request that it must also help us to tell a good story about the municipality. We must all be mindful of the fact that if we keep on publishing negative stories, there is no sane investor that will consider our city for investment. However, where we have shortcomings, you are at liberty to ask difficult questions because at the end of the day, we spend public money, and we must at all times account as to how the public funds was used'' Cllr Kaunda vowed that engagements of this nature are going to feature prominently in this current leadership's agenda to take the municipality to new heights.
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Entries deadline for inaugural Durban Tourism Awards looms
Manual entry forms are available at all Durban Tourism satellite offices. EThekwini Mayor, Councillor Mxolisi Kaunda said: ''By rewarding these businesses, we hope that others will be inspired to explore innovative ways in which they can adjust to the dynamic conditions that influence the global tourism industry.''
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Property owners advised to inspect general valuation roll
The municipality is undertaking a general valuation of all properties across the municipality. This is in accordance with the Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA) No. 6 of 2004, as amended. Property owners are encouraged to inspect the roll between 11 February and 31 March 2022 and lodge an objection if deemed necessary. The new valuation roll (GV 2022) will come into effect on 1 July 2022. The date of valuation has been determined as 2 July 2021 and the general valuation will reflect the market value of all properties in accordance with property market conditions that apply to this date. There are about 560 000 properties consisting of commercial, industrial, specialised properties, single residential, sectional title, and vacant land throughout the eThekwini municipal area. Physical inspection of every property was neither feasible, affordable, nor required in terms of the law. However, inspections are undertaken to verify information already on hand or where such information was considered incomplete. The Municipality has access to a vast database of property information including building plans, Deeds Office data, geographic information systems, aerial photography, information obtained from previous inspections, as well as data from property sales in each area. This information is regularly maintained, and inspections are routinely carried out where alterations, additions and new developments are completed. The valuation roll can be inspected at the office of the Municipal Manager, Valuation Roll Division, 5th Floor Embassy Building, 199 Anton Lembede (Smith) Street, Durban and at Sizakala Customer Centres during office hours from 7.30am to 4pm. Objection forms can be obtained from the same address.
The roll and forms are also available on the municipality's website: http://www.durban.gov.za:8000/propertysearch.htm
