Opposition parties in Buffalo City Metro have described the maiden State of the Metro address by new mayor, Alfred Mtsi, as both sweet and sour.
They say while there have been some positive developments which he reflected on in his speech, many challenges still remain.
ACDP councillor, Luke Quse, says he was encouraged by Mtsi's statements on infrastructure development, dealing with potholes, general road maintenance and also his commitment on the electrification of informal settlements.
However, Quse says there are still lingering concerns.
"With regard to municipal services I wish the mayor may speed up the appointment of the head of department because this is a critical department. I would of loved the mayor to mention the issue of Buffalo City development agencies because it's one of the entities which is tasked with the development of this city." says Quse.
Meanwhile, PAC PR councillor, Jerome Mdyolo, says for him Mtsi's speech was sweet and sour as he put it.
He says while there have been some achievements, which the mayor trumpeted, there are still some major concerns.
"One in terms of rolling out service delivery, the issue of employing permanent head of departments is still an issue of concern. The issue of refuse collection, the mayor has touched based on it but the mayor has failed to do due diligence in terms of telling the communities about the waste disposal in Berlin it is over flowing. We are not compliant in terms of the environment regulations." says Mdyolo.
DA caucus chairperson in Buffalo City Metro, Jan Smit, says they will be keeping a close watch on Mtsi over the coming year to see if keeps to his promises and improves the state of Buffalo City Metro.
"The executive mayor spoke largely on the council achievements over the past year, although the Democratic Alliance acknowledges some of the successes the metro achieved during the period, it cannot be attributed to Cllr Mtsi's leadership." says Smit.
