ETHEKWINI is one of the biggest metros in Mzansi.
But lately the leadership of the municipality has allegedly been failing to keep its house in order.
The municipality has been rocked by scandal after scandal, bringing the city to its knees.
The National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has placed the city under Section 154 intervention, short of placing it under administration.
But opposition parties in the metro slammed the move, saying the department should have placed it under administration as it was allegedly operating on auto pilot.
They claimed the city was on the verge of collapsing.
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Inkatha Freedom Party's eThekwini district chairman, Mdu Nkosi, said: "We believe that the intervention is too mild and a little too late. The city should have been placed under administration long ago.
"At the moment, the city is literally on auto pilot. It has no political leadership and has a weak administration, under a city manager who himself is tainted. This is the city that recently forfeited two grants with a combined value of R222 million because officials and politicians were squabbling over who should get tenders."
He further said this was the very same city that was yet to fix the damage it suffered following the April 2022 floods.
Democratic Alliance representative, Martin Meyer, said this move was a clear indication of the seriousness of the "collapse" of the metro.
"It is a sad day that the provincial government, being well aware of the failures and challenges facing eThekwini, have not acted sooner, leading to the national government having to take action on this matter," said Meyer.
Economic Freedom Fighter's provincial chairman, Mongezi Twala, said: "The intervention from the ANC-led government is an admission of guilt on their part, that they have failed to deliver service delivery to the people of eThekwini and they are now casting a vote of no confidence in their own comrade."
ANC regional spokesman Mlondi Mkhize said as the ANC in the region, they could confirm they were briefed by the ANC leadership in the province about the deployment of former director-general in the Presidency, Cassius Lubisi, to eThekwini.
"We are also aware that a team of highly qualified senior technocrats will work with him to turn around the situation in the city as per Section 154 intervention of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa," said Mkhize.
