NELSON MANDELA BAY - NEWLY ELECTED MAYOR EUGENE JOHNSON SHARES HER 100 DAY ACTION PLAN FOR THE BAY

MEDIA STATEMENT BY EXECUTIVE MAYOR EUGENE JOHNSON AT THE GQEBERHA CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBER ON TUESDAY, 09:30.

Programme Director,

Deputy Executive Mayor,

Speaker,

Chief Whip,

Members of the Mayoral Committee,

Representatives from the Media,

Officials,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning. I trust that you are well and ready for this important day. Thank you for honouring our first official press conference of the tenth administration of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. I decided to move this media engagement to an earlier time slot in order for the Nelson Mandela University to enjoy the spotlight when opening the first medical school in the region, later today. This shows that we are capable and able to bring change and progress for this region.

Prospective medical professionals had to either enrol at the Walter Sisulu University or relocate to the Western Cape, Gauteng, Free State or Kwazulu-Natal to qualify as doctors.

I will convey a message of congratulations on behalf of the municipality and its residents later today and wish them well as the first group of medical students start their journey of personal growth and self-improvement in our city.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me start by saying that the plans for our first 100 days in office, outlined in this address are consolidated through continuous engagements with our coalition partners. These plans are aimed at better service delivery in our metro and to advance the pro-poor policies that we have promised in our respective manifestos.

Public Health

I am sure that our Mayoral Committee Member for Public Health, Cllr Thsonono Buyeye, and his team will use the establishment of the new faculty as an opportunity to gain knowledge to build this crucial service delivery department. We do have a Memorandum of Understanding in place with the university to exchange ideas and work together. My vision for this administration is that a culture of research and development must be instilled in all departments to bring new innovations to the table and to place our municipality in the forefront of new developments in local government.

We are capable and able to continue the fight against COVID-19 by continuing to follow the clear directives set by our national government and to encourage our residents to vaccinate, wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines. We unfortunately lost more than 4000 residents to the coronavirus, since the global pandemic hit our shores. With the festive season around the corner and the identification of a new variant, efforts to keep the positive cases down must remain high from all stakeholders. In line with our commitment to safeguard our communities, our Disaster Management Department will ensure that the COVID-19 Joint Operations Centre remains operational and on high alert. The Metro Command Council will continue to be the local implementing agent of national and provincial directives. All these efforts will be supported by the enforcement of COVID-19 regulations.

MMC Buyeye, we can make our city cleaner by continuing to turn illegal dumpsites into useful spaces for communities. Your governance experience will be called upon to guide the building of capacity in that department to be more responsive to the needs of our community. Inspections at food outlets must be intensified to ensure that our residents are not exposed to hazardous foodstuffs. Your department must also investigate the recent reports of children dying, after eating noodles. Any information we get, must be handed over to the police, to provide closure for the grieving families and to avoid similar tragedies in future.

We are capable and able to ensure that hawkers are adequately trained to handle food correctly and that they are continuously monitored to ensure compliance with legislation and cleanliness standards.

Job opportunities through recycling initiatives to keep waste off our landfill sites must be explored and the development of the recycling sector must be explored in our city.

Infrastructure and engineering

I intend to work closely with our Mayoral Committee Member for Infrastructure and Engineering, Cllr Stag Mitchell, to intensify water augmentation measures as we are firmly entrenched in a drought with our dams at dangerously low levels. The 363 million set aside to ensure borehole drilling, bulk meter installations and repairs to pipelines, amongst others, are prioritised. Continuous engagements with national treasury are ongoing to make up for the financial shortfall that we have to address the crisis adequately.

We are capable and able to unite our residents in the crucial need to drastically reduce water consumption as the demand far outstrips the available water supply that we have left in our dams. MMC Mitchell, it cannot be that water leaks are left unattended for days and months. We need to respond faster. We can only do so if critical vacancies are filled. I am demanding of you and your team to ensure that you have enough capable employees to do the job at hand.

Unemployment increased to 42% in Nelson Mandela Bay and yet there are still vacancies in critical departments that take forever to be filled. This cannot be. Positions in the Directorates of Roads, Storm water and the Integrated Public Transport System must be filled as a matter of urgency as well. The fixing of potholes remain a serious concern. If we require additional teams to be put in place to ensure potholes are fixed speedily, then it must be done as a matter of urgency.

Swimming pools are already closed and we will be engaging with the local sporting fraternity to close facilities with high water usage. Interaction with the local tourism industry must also take place to remind visitors that we are a water scarce region and that we require adherence to water restrictions. We are capable and able to overcome this crisis if we join hands as a collective.

I am tasking Acting City Manager, Dr Noxolo Nqwazi, to provide reports with clear recommendations regarding excessive spending on overtime and we will be studying the latest Audit and Risk Committee reports to ensure that we identify and manage institutional risks effectively.

Safety and Security

Under the guidance of Mayoral Committee Member Lawrence Troon, the Safety and Security will convene a drought Joint Operation Centre and establish an Interdepartmental Disaster Management Committee as per Council Resolution. They have assured me that the Metro Police will not be lenient with anyone found to wastewater from car washes to swimming pool owners, businesses or residents. We all have a responsibility to conserve this valuable resource.

MMC Troon assured me he will be looking closely at recent tenders awarded in his department. I welcome his enthusiasm and encourage all MMCs to be vigilant when it comes to the spending of taxpayer funds. We are capable and able to root out corruption and restore trust in governance.

Vandalism of municipal infrastructure must be tackled with innovative ideas to enhance the policing of assets with technological solutions. An efficient operational plan must be put in place to accompany the installation of CCTV cameras and alarm systems.

Budget and Treasury

We are capable and able to assist more residents in need of free basic services as the economic meltdown as a result of the pandemic as well as an increase in unemployment, had a devastating economic impact on our city. The Assistance of the Poor programme must be rolled out to more deserving households. We cannot allow our residents to be crippled by economic hardship while we have a mandate and programmes to assist them. An item will be tabled at our next council meeting as part of the municipality’s Debt Relief Policy to consider a once-off amnesty for defaulting households.

Late payments of invoices must become a thing of the past as we cannot be contributors to the financial difficulty of local businesses. The national treasury guideline of payment within thirty days after receipt of invoices must be met as a matter of course.

Mayoral Committee Member Tukela Zumani and his team must ensure that the financial sustainability of our municipal coffers continues. The impact of the credit rating downgrade of our country, the disruption of economic activity due to the pandemic enforced lockdowns, load shedding and a drop in the revenue collection rate, demand greater innovation from management and the leadership collective.

We are capable and able to stop the under-expenditure of maintenance budgets intended to fix aging infrastructure and to provide a favourable environment to do business. 

Chief Financial Officer, we are still feeling the pinch of the R120 million grant funding that we lost during the previous administration.  Engagements with National Treasury must be initiated to see if those funds can still be accessed. Our city can ill afford to lose money due to inefficiency.

The R350 reconnection fee for poor households represents a heavy burden that deserves our attention, especially in this difficult economic climate.

Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture

Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture Mkuseli Jack and his counterpart in Budget and Treasury, hit the ground running when they stepped up to the plate to address the recent protest action by emerging and small businesses in the city.

I will be leaning heavily on MMC Jack to ensure that local economic development is prioritised to turn the fortunes of local businesses around and to unblock bottlenecks hampering investments in the local economy. The implementation of the Local Economic Recovery Plan and the emerging enterprise development plan must be prioritised to ensure greater prosperity for those willing to create jobs and helping us build a prosperous Nelson Mandela Bay.

The incubation programmes must include emerging and small enterprises located in the townships. We would like to see the implementation of Enterprise Development Centres being implemented in the Northern Areas, the Kariega-Despatch area and township areas.

MMC Jack we need to partner with business and other stakeholders to implement sustainable agricultural programmes. A large percentage of our population is food insecure. Initiatives must be put in place to improve the material conditions of those affected by poverty.

Plans to create 900 job opportunities for young people as water ambassadors, tourism ambassadors and as caregivers for the elderly are in place as part of the Presidential Stimulus Programme.

Executive Director Anele Qaba, we need to engage Transnet regarding the relocation of the Manganese Ore facility to the Port of Ngqura.

The development of the ICT sector must also be prioritised as part of a citywide initiative to harness opportunities emanating from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We are capable and able to create a world-class and prosperous coastal city.

Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture

I have been assured by the Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture Directorate that money is available to maintain the sporting facilities in our communities. However, we need to establish a social compact with the respective communities, where these facilities are being built, to ensure that they are not vandalised.

We are demanding greater emphasis on the development of local artists and the creation of a conducive environment for artists to prosper. There should not be a reason for artists to leave the region to make a living. Mayoral Committee member Bassie Kamana understands that our work is cut out to address the rampant vandalism of municipal sporting facilities. We are in the process of developing a comprehensive institutional plan to deal with this problem.

We are capable and able to install water-wise systems at all new sporting facilities, roll-out artificial surfaces for sports fields (where possible) and to connect ablution facilities with existing boreholes to save water.

Human Settlements

The title deeds heaping up at our Human Settlements Directorate must be handed over to the rightful owners. When houses are handed over, the handover of title deeds must not be delayed.

Housing delivery must be intensified to deal with the backlog. It is estimated that migration to urban areas will increase even more over the next decade. This means that our housing delivery programme will be further challenged with the ever increasing need of economic migrants from rural areas. The fast-tracking of catalytic projects must therefore be prioritised.

We are capable and able to spend the R46,6 million set aside to build more than 350 housing units and directly create jobs in the process.

Corporate Services 

President Cyril Ramaphosa regularly calls for the establishment of a capable and professional workforce. Member of the Mayoral Committee Makhi Feni must ensure that our labour relations are improved and that disputes are addressed internally more efficiently. Our leave records must be administered correctly and exorbitant overtime costs must be addressed. Skills gaps must be identified and initiatives must be developed to improve productivity of the workforce. We are capable and able to provide efficient services if our workers are committed to do their tasks and all our corporate processes are streamlined and more efficient. 

Roads and Transport

The public transport sector must continue to be redeveloped as part of the Integrated Public Transport System and the roll-out of the bus system to other areas must be prioritised. Our residents deserve a reliable, safe and decent public transport system.

The maintenance of road infrastructure is a major priority for our administration as we cannot be plagued with claims for damage to vehicles and other property. The Acting City Manager must provide us with a report how much we lose due to lawsuits as a result of not maintaining infrastructure. We would like to see a decline in the current figure in the next financial year. The money, spent on damages, can be better utilised to provide services for our residents.

Mayoral Committee Member Bongani Mani, I will lean heavily on your team to fast-track negotiations with the taxi industry and other stakeholders to ensure that the modernisation of the transport sector continuous unabated. 

Electricity and Energy

Lastly, MMC Luxolo Namette, your department always played an important role in providing solutions for our residents. Your team need to lead initiatives to provide a more affordable energy mix and reduce the institution’s own electricity usage. I am aware that you were responsible for providing internet connectivity for numerous township areas, allowing school learners the opportunity to access valuable learning and teaching resources on the internet. 

We must ensure that we get that programme back on track in a sustainable way.

The rising electricity tariff from Eskom and the unreliable supply from the power utility, resulting in revenue losses, must be countered. We need to incorporate renewable energy sources and establish strategic partnerships with the private sector to build and own renewable electricity plants.

We are capable and able to stop the disruption to local economic activity due to unreliable power supply from Eskom. I understand that our own electricity usage amounts to R150 million every year. This calls for energy saving initiatives at all municipal buildings in order for us to save money.

The R21 million set aside for public lighting is very important as dark alleys and streets are breeding grounds for criminal elements. I am pleased to learn that this money will be used to repair and replace broken or non-functioning streetlights, poles and fittings. A total of 2300 energy efficient streetlights will be installed on both main and residential roads.

In addition, I would like to appeal to the electricity department, that we must improve our response times to repair faulty street lights. We are overwhelmed with complaints of very slow turnaround times after these faults are reported.

I was especially happy to hear that R118 million is currently being spend on the refurbishment, modernisation and development of the city’s electricity network.

Ladies and gentlemen, I decided to provide this comprehensive statement to show that you are in capable hands. All these projects are based on the five key performance areas listed in the municipality’s Integrated Development Plan.

These are:

1. Basic service delivery and infrastructure development,

2. Municipal transformation and organisational development,

3. Local Economic Development

4. Financial sustainability and viability, and;

5. Good governance and public participation.

We are capable and able to fulfil the mandate given by the voting public and ready to take the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality forward.

In conclusion. The question on everyone’s lips needs a response. Why will this coalition government work?

The answer is that we as partners are all very committed to service delivery, and we want to implement

 our pro-poor policies. We have a unitary goal. We want to improve the lives of Nelson Mandela Bay residents, especially those neglected and marginalised communities.

This government will work! Our residents want stability and services to be delivered.

Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you.

Executive Mayor 

Eugene Johnson (Ms)