NMBBC

A collective approach in addressing enabling environment issues of common interest in Fairview has led to businesses establishing a Geographic Cluster in the area to foster a thriving working environment.

This is the ninth cluster to be established by businesses in the metro under the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber banner, with the Beachfront, Baakens Valley, Deal Party, Perseverance, Neave/Korsten, North End, Struandale and Kariega established over the last 18 month period.

To start the process of defining their vision and determining their strategic priorities, the Fairview Cluster has established an interim committee consisting of Nico Claassen (Wirk), Gideon Smith (S4 Integration), Eugene Le Grange (Netwide), Derika Le Grange (Netwide), Belinda Samuels (NTT/Dimension Data), Wikus Loots (Maritime Motors), Paola Horak (Grindstone Properties/NMBBC Board Cluster Lead), Denise van Huyssteen (NMBBC CEO) and Ashwin Daya (NMBBC COO). The interim structure is made up of volunteers from various businesses in the area and are supported by the executive leadership of the Chamber to guide them in developing a legal framework to ensure the Cluster is fully compliant.

One of the companies that have been at the forefront of having a cluster established in the area is S4 Integration, which has consulted widely with other businesses as part of a recruitment drive.

S4 Integration Marketing Manager Gideon Smith says the S4 group has made substantial investments in the Fairview area, which is still evolving as a relatively young business hub with a burgeoning number of enterprises.

“Aligning ourselves with the Business Chamber’s strategy to revive the metro as a conducive place to do business, our primary objective is to actively contribute to the development of the Fairview area, emphasising cleanliness, safety, and community pride. We are dedicated to fostering a thriving environment and by joining forces with other local businesses, our goal is to transform Fairview into a pristine, crime-free zone that residents and businesses alike can take pride in,” says Smith.

He says that some of the challenges businesses are facing in the area include lack of road maintenance, general maintenance and illegal dumping.

“There are likely more or less visible issues, however, we feel that an initial focus on the low-hanging fruit will already make a massive difference in how the area is perceived and this will be a driver for further initiatives to better the area. We also believe that if we set the example, others will follow,” he says.

Chamber chief executive Denise van Huyssteen emphasised that key to ensuring the success of the Fairview Cluster is the adoption of a vision, mission and strategy, along with a timeline for implementation of key initiatives.

“What makes Nelson Mandela Bay based businesses unique is their willingness to collaborate with one another for the greater good of the local economy and on taking action. As a business community we have hope in the future – we know that this is the Bay of opportunity. It starts with all of us believing in its potential and taking action to drive things forward in the right direction,” says Van Huyssteen.

The recent appointments of Tati Tsunke and Geoff Mendelowitz as chairpersons for the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber’s Beachfront Cluster and North End Cluster, respectively, reflect the momentum the clusters are building as they drive for a more enabling operating environment.

Effective and positive leadership is crucial for encouraging collaboration of the various businesses and stakeholders, as well as drive the adoption of a solutions and action orientated approach, says Denise van Huyssteen, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber  

The Chamber has over the past 18 months successfully established eight clusters namely Neave/Korsten, North End, Deal Party, Beachfront, Baakens Valley, Struandale, Kariega and Perseverance, each actively collaborating with the Municipality and other stakeholders to address common issues in their geographic areas. “We envisage that two more clusters will come on stream in the coming months, and are expected to be located in the Fairview and Walmer areas. This demonstrates that the mobilisation of businesses around the Bay is accelerating as more businesses realise they need to become more actively involved in such initiatives to help retain and grow investment and jobs.” 

Tati Tsunke, the general manager of the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino, will lead the Beachfront Cluster, replacing Mike Neubert who has stepped into the Treasurer role. Tsunke has been instrumental in enlisting businesses in the area to address issues like cleanliness, street lighting and the installation of security cameras to enhance safety in the beachfront area.

Geoff Mendelowitz, the Project and Property Maintenance Manager for Grindstone Property Group, replaces James Flanagan in leading the North End Cluster. Both Tsunke and Mendelowitz bring valuable leadership experience to their roles, and their professional insight is expected to guide the clusters through collaborative efforts focused on action and results.

Tsunke emphasised the critical timing of his appointment, recognising the challenges businesses face in a changed environment. He highlighted the positive impact of partnerships among businesses in addressing issues in the beachfront area.

“I do not take this honour lightly as I understand the major task that lies ahead in terms of strengthening the cluster to become responsive to the challenges facing businesses and other stakeholders in the beachfront area. Businesses operating in the precinct have made positive strides in addressing some of the problems that negatively impact businesses and their operations, including strengthening security for the safety of both businesses and visitors in the beachfront,” said Tsunke. 

Mendelowitz, a Civil Engineer with 40 years’ experience in management, stressed the importance of decisive leadership and collaboration with all stakeholders in addressing numerous challenges in North End and the wider city.
“My priority is to continue with the North End Cluster’s mandate by working constructively with the Business Chamber Executive as well as both public and private stakeholders. This will ensure success for a well maintained, sustainable and thriving Cluster as part of an exciting wider Business Chamber initiative,” said Mendelowitz.
Van Huyssteen said the appointments reaffirmed the importance of positive activism from businesses in response to the radically changed economic environment. 

“We have full confidence in the capabilities of both appointees as they have deep insight into the challenges facing businesses in their respective areas. What the city needs now are innovative leaders who are not bogged down by the negativity around them but rather utilising the power of collective leadership to find solutions to retain and attract investment in the Metro. We’re looking forward to working with them and hope that they will embrace the challenges and help build hope through unity of purpose and action,” she said.  

The Chamber hosted religious leaders from a broad spectrum of church formations in the city to find synergies in order to work collectively as a wider and inclusive civil society in addressing some of the challenges facing Nelson Mandela Bay’s economy and communities.

The engagement, which was initiated by the churches, also sought to provide the group with insight into the Chamber’s proactive business activism, in response to the radically changed environment for businesses. It was informed by a need to understand the Chamber’s interventions and the importance of strong collective and united leadership to drive positive change in the city.

Driven by unity of purpose and action, the team agreed to use their collective muscle to re-orientate the city’s victim mentality by working towards pulling down the silo mentality within their formations to positively influence the city towards a functional trajectory.

Churches represented at the meeting included the Father’s House Church, Uniting Presbyterian Church of SA, Transformation Christian Network, Harvest Church, Anglican Church, Roman Catholic Church, Methodist Church, Ebenezer International, Dutch Reformed Church and the Apostolic Faith Mission.

Chamber chief executive Denise van Huyssteen presented the Chamber’s strategic priorities, which are driven by its task teams, clusters, and various strategic partnerships and linkages through action orientated collaborative efforts both locally and nationally with a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

“We have to recognise that we are operating in an era of global, national and local instability and polycrisis. This requires a radical mind-shift to becoming a vibrant civil society where we embrace a new era of collaboration. This becomes even more important considering the current energy and logistics challenges as well as lack of service delivery, that an approach of collaboration and innovation is required to support the economic survival of local businesses,” said Van Huyssteen.

Van Huyssteen also shared some of her key learnings in her role in driving change which are underpinned by a clearly defined strategy and priorities, backed by strong leadership and fast decision making. 

“We need to stay positive and focus on what’s within your control. The shift in our mind-set should be orientated towards helping the Bay to shift from being a victim of politics to becoming an enabling metro. By working together, we can spread the load and learn from each other. More importantly, we need to build hope through unity of purpose and action in order to retain and attract much needed investment and jobs in our metro,” she said.  

She further encouraged the youth to participate in community upliftment programmes and be part of the movement to create a vibrant civil society.  This is particularly important, given that 72% of youth between the ages of 18-28 in the Bay are unemployed.  Beyond this, other spheres of our community, institutions of learning and NGOs need to become much more active in driving positive action.  .

“As a business organisation, we remain impartial both from a political and religious perspective, and our efforts are focused around collaborating with civil society as a whole for the greater good of the metro and its people.”

Commenting during the engagement, Lead Pastor at Father’s House Church George Georgiou echoed Van Huyssteen’s sentiments, emphasising the importance of different church structures coming together and working as a unit, not in silos. 

“We have much to learn from the Chamber and how it has managed to find synergies with different stakeholders where the focus is on addressing some of the key challenges facing the city and our communities at large. The need for strong leadership becomes imperative in a society where there’s disintegration within communities and family structures. As leadership, we are encouraged by the work the Chamber has done and we need to do more in terms of coming together as a unit and change the city’s trajectory,” said Georgiou.  

This collaboration between the Chamber and the various civil society stakeholders underscores the belief in the power of unity, purpose, and positive action to overcome challenges and bring about positive change in the Bay.

Over 100 emerging professionals from in and around the Bay attended the Nelson Mandela Bay Chamber’s seventh Professional Social Connect (PSC) on 19 January at Mazars, in Humewood. The event was the first for this year and was hosted by the Chamber in partnership with Mazars, with First National Bank (FNB) as the main sponsor.

The programme’s purpose and objective is to create a social platform where emerging professionals are able to meet, connect and network with like-minded professionals. The platform further provides emerging professionals with an opportunity to meet and interact with industry leaders from various businesses across Nelson Mandela Bay, and subsequently secure expert mentors to further support their career or business development. The main objective of the platform is to retain and attract talent in the Metro.

The success of the six previous events which were hosted last year, has ignited interest from professionals as far as Johannesburg and Cape Town who would like to participate in the event.

Last year, through the PSC programme, the Chamber established various emerging professionals Think Tanks whose objective was to propose innovative solutions to the many challenges facing the Metro. The Think Tanks, which comprised an average of 10 participants in each of the five Think Tanks, volunteered their time to develop various proposals from water and electricity, tourism, to arts and culture.

Commenting on the event’s success, FNB’s Eastern Cape Regional Head Sandile Phillip said “When great minds meet for a greater good, magic happens”.

“I cannot believe that it has been 15 months since we had our first Professional Social Connect session. I have seen new professional relationships bloom, individuals coming out of their shells, new business opportunities being created and professionals meeting other large employers in the city as alternatives when corporate ceilings have been reached,” said Phillips.

“All of this validates the vision I and some of the business leaders in the Metro have of facilitating a thriving environment for young professionals and entrepreneurs, where networks are built, new opportunities created. In the process, the Metro gets to attract, retain and develop vibrant young professions who believe in the city’s growth prospects.”

Phillip said that with more local and international businesses looking at investing in Nelson Mandela Bay, with businesses such as Stellantis, Hive Hydrogen, S4 Automation and Formex Industries already committed large investments, a positive group of young professionals becomes even more important.

“More people are moving towards coastal areas like Cape Town, George, Mossel Bay and others causing an influx.  As such, an opportunity is presented to Mandela Bay and East London to be the next beneficiaries of semigration. Young professionals are an important part of us getting ready for the opportunities this semigration and new investments bring,” he said. Chamber chief executive Denise van Huyssteen said the attraction and retention of skills is critical if the Metro wants to grow its local economy.

“Young professionals in particular have a key role to play in terms of providing new technology related skills, as well as driving different thinking and innovation to build a more agile and relevant economy. As highly skilled people, with experience and critical skills, move towards retirement age, there needs to be a new pool of talent to succeed them,” said Van Huyssteen.

“Young people are typically those who are most agile and open to moving to bigger cities and other parts of the world for employment opportunities. We need to create a local environment which creates stimulating opportunities for young people so that they want to stay here and become the leaders of the future. An important part of this is establishing strong networks among young people and exposing them more broadly to local economic developments.”

Public drinking and the unacceptable state of cleanliness threatening tourism and the blue flag status of the Beachfront.
The Beachfront Front Cluster, one of the eight geographical clusters of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber, has called on the Municipality to enforce safety measures as businesses in the area are concerned about the negative impact of public drinking and littering on their establishments and holidaymakers.

Beachfront Cluster Deputy Chairperson and MD of the Boardwalk Hotel, Casino and Convention Tati Tsunke says the Municipality had promised that the beachfront would be a no alcohol zone and safety measures would be strengthened to ensure there are zero incidents, including the upkeep of the area.

“The kind of behaviour we have been witnessing around the area these past few days does not bode well with what it represents as a tourist attraction. The degradation of the beachfront through littering not only poses a risk to the tourism sector but also to the blue flag status of the beaches. More importantly, any litter that is left unattended poses a risk to sea life especially if it is blown into the ocean. As such, we are calling on the residents and visitors who are using the area to exercise restraint against any antisocial behaviour and to clean up after themselves,” says Tsunke.

Tsunke further highlighted that the current law enforcement measures were not effective, as public drinking remained a huge concern with no visible monitoring taking place.

“Having dedicated security personnel on the ground during the festive season monitoring the area would serve as a deterrent to potential incidents of crime and public drinking. It would also address the challenge with littering as people would be forced to use garbage bins that are located around the beachfront.”

The beachfront, which is the biggest draw card for tourists visiting the city over the December holiday period, has also become increasingly dangerous as cases of muggings, attacks and business robberies have been reported by concerned residents and businesses. This was also due to poor lighting in the area where some of the faulty streetlights have now been fixed and security cameras installed at strategic locations, thanks to Beachfront Safety Sector and the Summerstrand Neighbourhood Watch who are working in tandem with the Beachfront Cluster.

Results from a survey which the Chamber recently conducted on rail and port logistics inefficiencies, highlights the significant impact these inefficiencies are having on the growth and sustainability of Nelson Mandela Bay based businesses says Denise van Huyssteen, the chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber.

Rail needs to become fully functional again

Van Huyssteen says that the survey which covers the January to October 2023 period and incorporates feedback from the Bay’s largest exporters and importers, revealed that 88% of the businesses surveyed were not using the country’s rail network to transport their cargo due to its unreliability and unavailability.

The survey also reveals significant interest from 65% of the businesses who would use the country’s rail system if it was available and reliable, while half of the businesses indicated that they would use the north-south corridor if it was available. The corridor, which connects Nelson Mandela Bay and the province of Gauteng, with Johannesburg as the main destination of cargo, is particularly vital for the country’s automotive sector. These businesses however, are left with no alternative option but to use road freight to transport their cargo to market at significantly higher costs.

“Rail issues stem from the lack of infrastructure maintenance and investment particularly in the last two decades, and vandalism of the country’s railway system.  As a result, the country has seen a shift in general freight from rail to road, which has resulted in increasing road transportation costs, unprecedented damage to the roads and related infrastructure including increased road accidents involving trucks,” she says. “Also very concerning is that the unreliability of rail has resulted in manganese being transported via trucks and stored in the Markman industrial area prior to being transported to the harbour.  This has resulted in the roads, water and sanitation infrastructure in the area being decimated.”

Port inefficiencies need to be addressed

Over 75% of the respondents said that they had to transport their cargo to the Ports of Cape Town and Durban, due to shipping lines skipping the two Nelson Mandela Bay Ports. As a result, it has cost these companies an estimated R66 million to transport their cargo to and from the Ports of Durban and Cape Town during this period.

Equipment issues, especially the limited number of gangs available to work on vessels, were cited by 88% respondents as a key issue impacting upon the efficiencies of the two Bay ports, which affects turnaround times and cause delays.

“And the overwhelming majority the businesses surveyed said that urgent focus is required on developing port infrastructure to resolve the current challenges impacting business operations and the local economy,” says Van Huyssteen.  “This is particularly important if we are to retain and attract investments to the Metro, as 43% of the businesses indicated that these port inefficiencies have impacted current and future investments plans.”

Current Logistics Crisis

The Chamber has noted that for a number of months, prior to the current crisis and backlog at the Durban port, a number of the major shipping lines were already skipping the Nelson Mandela Bay ports. “This was because the shipping lines, having already lost too many days at the Durban and Cape Town ports, could not waste any further days at the Port Elizabeth and Ngqura ports.”

As part of mitigation efforts, to retain export business, some businesses in the Bay are currently transporting their goods via road to Walvis Bay and Maputo ports among others. Some businesses are even forced to use airfreight to transport their cargo and the additional logistics costs they are incurring are making the city’s exporters uncompetitive versus global competitors, who do not have to contend with these types of costs and delays.

Additionally a number of manufacturers have reported that due to delays in components arriving timeoulsy, this has caused production plants to lose critical production days. “For every day lost in the logistics chain, an entire production shift can be lost.”

“With freight carriers set to start charging a congestion surcharge due to difficult operating conditions at South African ports, this will have a trickledown effect where businesses will be forced to pass on rising prices to consumers, thereby pushing the price of goods,” says Van Huyssteen.

“For many years logistics has been among the highest costs for manufacturers operating in South Africa due to the distance to main markets.  In recent months these costs have escalated to unsustainable levels, and if you consider this alongside the additional costs manufacturers are paying for loadshedding mitigation solutions, the operating environment is not conducive to retaining and growing our local manufacturing sector. It is worth noting that a survey conducted by the Chamber indicated that load-shedding cost local businesses an estimated R2.9 billion in lost production and revenue in the third quarter of this year alone.

It is vital that all the stakeholders move with absolute urgency to develop and implement practical solutions to mitigate the risks posed by both the logistics and electricity crisis. As organised business, we are committed to continuing to engage and collaborate with Transnet to find solutions to address both the short-term emergency issues, as we all the longer-term issues.”

According to the World Bank’s 2022 global Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) that assessed and ranked 348 ports from the best to least performing port, South African ports are among poor performing ports with the Port of Port Elizabeth ranked higher at 291, followed by Ngqura at 338, Durban 341, and Cape Town at 344 out of 348 ports. Furthermore, at an African level, the port of Cape Town is ranked last at 37 out of 37 African ports, while the port of Durban

is one place up at 36 while the ports of Ngqura and Port Elizabeth are ranked 35 and 18th respectively.