Durban - eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda says the DA should take the blame for any negative perceptions that tourists have about Durban.
Delivering his responding remarks to the state of the city debate last week, Kaunda said the DA councillors had been on television every day leading up to the December holidays, speaking negatively about the city.
He made the remarks shortly after DA councillors and most of the other councillors in the opposition benches had left the special council meeting on Thursday. He was still addressing the meeting when they left.
The DA had walked out after remarks by the mayor that the party harboured racist tendencies. They walked out shortly before the meeting ended.
During the debate, one of the DA councillors had pointed out that businesses in the tourism sector were struggling to recover.
In response, Kaunda said: “Councillors (DA) talk about tourism. I don’t know which country they live in. Tourism has bounced back even in this city. During the Easter holidays we expected the hotel occupancy to be around 60%, it was at 65%. So it shows the growth, the positive growth the sector is resuscitating itself and needs support from us.
“But those councillors that went out (DA – after abandoning the meeting), they’re the ones who were chasing (away) tourists in this city during summer holidays. They were on television almost every day saying don’t come to Durban, because Durban has sewer leakages, Durban has this, Durban has that, but today they are the first ones to complain if the sector is not doing well.
“If we are a bad city, why is the whole world here, playing world championship tennis, why is the tourism indaba (here). We had more than 8 500 (guests), that on its own shows that this sector is bouncing back,” the mayor said.
DA councillor Yogis Govender said the ANC must not insult the intelligence of the citizens of eThekwini.
“Did they think that any reasonable person who saw sewer spilling into the beaches knowing the possible health hazards, would swim or visit? Does anyone want to be swimming in faeces? Do people want to holiday or conduct business near sewer spillages with the smell of sewage hanging in the air 24/7?
“It was the duty of the city to exercise due diligence and fix all the collapsing infrastructure. EThekwini can not keep the lights on or water coming out of taps, nor the streets clean and crime free. They have only themselves to blame.”