Service delivery remains high on eThekwini Municipality’s agenda. To this end, the Municipal leadership remains committed to ensuring that by 2030 eThekwini is Africa’s most caring and livable City.
This was further reiterated by the recently released Mercer 2016 Quality of Living Survey which ranked Durban 85 out of 230 cities across the world.
Durban ranked higher than Cape Town, placed 92nd and Johannesburg, 95th. Durban was the second best City in Africa following Port Louis in Mauritius which was placed 83rd.
Vienna continued its reign in the top position for overall quality of living followed by Zurich in second place, Auckland in third and Munich and Vancouver in fourth and fifth position respectively.
Ethekwini Mayor James Nxumalo said Durban’s achievement was one to be proud of.
“We have worked hard to ensure that the quality of life for all residents has improved through expediting service delivery. We have impacted a number of lives through various City run initiatives. We have also improved amenities for residents and visitors to enjoy as recreational activities is an important aspect of a having a high quality life.”
This achievement comes after eThekwini achieved a clean audit report from the Auditor-General for the 2014/15 financial year. Achieving this feat shows that City leaders are practicing good governance and are appropriately using ratepayers funds. Another feat was the City’s two Municipal entities, namely uShaka Marine World and Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre also achieving clean audits for the same financial year.
Nxumalo said officials would continue to work hard to continue to deliver to all residents and achieve the vision of making eThekwini Africa’s most caring and livable City.
Speaker Logie Naidoo was thrilled at Durban’s placement. “Durban beat a number of other larger cities. To all eThekwini councillors, staff and residents I say well done, congratulations.”
Mercer’s survey is one of the world’s most comprehensive and is conducted annually to enable multinational companies and other employers to compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments.
Mercer’s survey identifies the personal safety ranking for the full list of cities, it is based on internal stability, crime figures, performance of local law enforcement, and the home country’s relationship with other countries.
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