Residents and ratepayers in Ray Nkonyeni Municipality are calling for greater accountability following the approval of the municipality’s R1.56 billion budget, urging officials to prioritise service delivery, infrastructure upgrades and road repairs.
The budget, approved this week, includes allocations for infrastructure development, community programmes and basic service delivery.
The Albersville Ratepayers Association says the municipality must urgently address deteriorating roads, ageing infrastructure and ongoing electricity challenges.
Association representative Salahudin Musa said residents wanted to see visible improvements resulting from the budget expenditure.
Musa said potholes continue to worsen despite repair efforts, while cable theft and ageing infrastructure remain major concerns for communities.
“And we can only see how that does when we look at infrastructure, and that’s the only way for us to prove if it’s impacting positively on our infrastructure,” Musa said.
“People don’t mind increases if the money is being used in the right way.”
He added that residents were frustrated by annual increases in municipal rates and service charges without corresponding improvements in service delivery.
The municipality says it remains committed to balancing financial sustainability with the service delivery needs of residents.
The concerns come as Corruption Watch revealed that KwaZulu-Natal ranked second in the country for reported corruption cases.
According to the organisation’s 2025 report, more than 2,200 complaints were received nationally, with 91% linked directly to corruption.
Maladministration was identified as the most commonly reported offence, followed by fraud and extortion.
KwaZulu-Natal recorded 249 reported corruption cases, while eThekwini Municipality was identified as a municipal hotspot with 124 reported incidents.
The policing sector recorded the highest number of complaints nationally, followed by the basic education sector.
Gauteng remained the province with the highest number of reported corruption cases, accounting for 45% of all complaints.
Corruption Watch warned that systemic corruption continues to weaken key state institutions and law enforcement agencies, with ongoing investigations by the Madlanga Commission and Parliament exposing the extent of institutional failures.
Meanwhile, the eThekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement has vowed to continue opposing proposed tariff increases in Durban.
Hundreds of ratepayers marched to Durban City Hall this week to protest planned increases for the new financial year.
Under the proposals, water tariffs could increase by 15%, electricity by 10.5%, refuse removal by 13%, and sanitation charges by 13% for residents and 14% for businesses.
Protesters handed over a memorandum of demands to officials from the mayor’s office.