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New Coalition Leadership Plan To Get Nelson Mandela Bay Working Again

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Executive Mayor Retief Odendaal, together with his mayoral committee members, has set out their key priorities to get Nelson Mandela Bay working again. During his inaugural media briefing, the Executive Mayor said together with this team they had identified several main pillars that will be addressed as priorities over the next few months.

Mayor Odendaal added that it was critical to bring political and administrative stability back to Nelson Mandela Bay, and the new Mayoral Committee would strive to provide transparent governance, and fight corruption through accountability and consequence management.

“We need to secure our water supply, mitigate the impact of loadshedding, protect and refurbish our critical infrastructure, deliver basic services across all communities, enforce our by-laws, partner with businesses to grow our economy.”

“We also need to put plans in place to proactively address the scourge of Gender-Based Violence, and support and encourage Youth Development Programmes that offer alternatives to gangsterism,” he said.

Turning his attention to Governance and institutional matters, Mayor Odendaal said all critical vacancies would be filled as a matter of urgency and the new government would work towards fully capacitating the Internal Audit and Forensics units.

As Mayoral Committee Member responsible for Corporate Services, Cllr Annette Lovemore will drive the process of filling critical vacancies to ensure service delivery to residents. “I want to make it abundantly clear that this leadership will not tolerate any form of corruption. To this end we will be filling all vacancies within the Internal Audit division and will be working on improving our turnaround time in dealing with internal forensic investigations and ensuring that swift and harsh action is taken against those found to be involved in corruption of any kind,” he said.

Mayor Odendaal noted that the system to address the City’s water leaks was not sufficient, and that additional steps would need to be taken. This includes putting systems in place to allow for fixing leaks at a ward-based level, appointing additional plumbers and partnering with the private sector. “We want to commend the NMB Business Chamber for their Adopt a School initiative, which has already seen 73 schools adopted, with businesses actively assisting these schools to fix faulty plumbing and implement rainwater harvesting measures,” he said.

Mayor Odendaal said delays in drought mitigation projects needed to be resolved, and a resolution was needed for the proposed Desalinisation plant. He said the municipality would also be lobbying national government to begin the rollout of phase four of the Nooitgedacht Water Scheme.

“Despite the welcome rain we have experienced these past few weeks, our dams remain critically low. We need to put long-term solutions in place to secure the City’s water supply,” he said. To this end, Mayor Odendaal said new Infrastructure and Engineering MMC, Dries van der Westhuyzen, had been tasked with drafting a new Water Master Plan that speaks to fixing the City’s water reticulation system over the next decade.

“We also need to immediately start rolling out water meters to households and businesses that currently still do not have meters in place,” he said. Mayor Odendaal said the municipality also needed to tackle the backlog of sewage blockages. He said the municipality needed to address the 90 faulty sewage pump stations and implement immediate remedial work at the municipality’s two wastewater treatment plants.

He said MMC for Electricity and Energy, Cllr Lance Grootboom, would be dealing with improving the stability of the City’s electricity supply. “We will be reviewing the current loadshedding schedules, which are having a significant impact on the City’s economy.

“We will also be investigating renewable energy solutions to generate our own power and purchase electricity from independent power producers. We will also be engaging with high energy consumers to explore alternative power solutions,” he said. Mayor Odendaal said the directorate had been tasked with addressing the backlog in streetlight repairs and combatting electricity theft.

Mayor Odendaal said the new coalition government had noted the sad state of roads in the Metro and the new Roads and Transport MMC, Cllr Kabelo Mogatosi, has been tasked with creating a centralised pothole database.

“This database will show the location of the pothole, as well as when the pothole was fixed and by which municipal staff member or contractor, to ensure that potholes are repaired correctly,” he said.

“We will also be fast-tracking the backlog in erecting signage posts, signage, and painting of speed humps, and will be implementing a 24-hour turnaround standard for the repair of accident damaged traffic lights,” he said.

MMC for Safety and Security, Cllr Lawrence Troon, has been tasked with addressing the vandalism of municipal infrastructure. “We will be relaunching the anti-vandalism steering committee and will be rolling out initiatives to monitor and scrap yards, to clamp down on illegal scrap metal syndicates,”

Mayor Odendaal said. “It is also important that our buildings are accessible and being used by the public, as this will deter would-be vandals,” he added.

Human Settlements MMC, Cllr Tukela Zumani, has been tasked with expediting housing developments that have budget available and making the housing beneficiary lists public and readily accessible. “We will also be establishing a Housing Delivery Monitoring Task Team, and will be exploring opportunities of public private partnerships for rolling out GAP and social housing initiatives,” he said.

Mayor Odendaal said public health MMC, Cllr Thsonono Buyeye, had been tasked with relaunching the task team dealing with illegal dumping, improving security at the Arlington tip and establishing a city-wide cleaning initiative, with incentives for most waste cleared/collected in a day. “We will also be looking at launching a builders and construction rubble initiative, with the assistance of other directorates, to deal with the increasing cases of illegal dumping of building rubble,” he said.

Turning his attention to the city’s economic development, Mayor Odendaal said MMC Luxolo Namette had been tasked with facilitating engagements with the business community and implementing a long-term growth and development plan for the Metro. “We need to re-establish the one-stop shop, where one official assists a developer or business owner with all municipal application processes,” he said.

“We also need to establish an NMB investment team, and develop incentives for investments in excess of R50 million,” said Mayor Odendaal.

Mayor Odendaal, who is also managing the Budget and Treasury portfolio, said the first priority was to review the City’s collection rate and bring it back to 90%. He said he would also be looking at fixing supply chain issues. “We need to urgently review the ATTP policy and fast track the rollout of services to indigent households,” he said. “We also need to re-establish the budget monitoring forum to review capital and grant funding spend and appoint independent experts to this committee.”

Mayor Odendaal said MMC for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Bassie Kamana, has been tasked with restoring Nelson Mandela Bay as a sports tourism destination. “We need to secure blue flag status for our beaches, address vandalised facilities, and develop incentive packages to bring back sporting events,” he said.

“We also need to invest in our libraries and develop heritage programmes that showcase our diverse heritage and culture,” said Mayor Odendaal.

Mayor Odendaal said that today was just the beginning of what needed to be done. “We are under no illusion. There is a lot of work that needs to be done, and many critical interventions are needed if we are to turn this Metro of ours around.”

“The interventions presented today are just the tip of the iceberg, but we need to start somewhere. We understand that our residents are frustrated and have lost faith in the municipality and its leadership.

“We are working to change that. It is going to take time, there are going to be significant challenges, and it is not going to be easy, but we are all committed to get this beautiful City of ours working again.”

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.