This once economic power house of the Eastern Cape lies in tatters. Many wonder how it will manage to rise from the ashes wrought by Covid 19, maladministration and looting by past ANC city governments – and ultimately the self-destruction of DA-led rule.
What is clear is that politicians, on their own, won't be able to fix it. The only route out of this sordid mess is for the people, across race and class divisions, to join hands to pick up the pieces.
The last time there was any focus on rebuilding the metro was during the brief mayorship of Dr Danny Jordaan, when a budget deficit of more than R400 million was turned around – with investment promises totalling R33 billion. Since then its been a fast spiral back to the bottom.
The metro has no option but to involve the private sector in a central and strategic manner to rebuild Nelson Mandela Bay's glory.
A good place to start would be for all business chambers active in the region to deploy representatives to the Metro's standing committees on an ex-officio basis. The present model, in which councillors with no knowledge of business make huge spending decisions, is a recipe for disaster.
A GOOD government would urgently tackle the challenge of speeding up processes to acquire and re-zone property. Many businesses have disinvested from the region due to red-tape. The metro requires a one-stop centre accommodating representatives of all relevant departments to speed things up.
Another key intervention would be the creation of an inclusive dispute panel, including lawyers, auditors and supply chain experts. Resolving disputes before they are subjected to lengthy and costly litigation will save millions of Rands for businesses and the Metro, alike.
The Metro presently suffers masses losses due to its inability to manage grant funding. Hundreds of millions of Rands of grant funding are either returned to national Treasury or stolen. This mismanagement and criminality would be curtailed by the publication of a transparent dashboard, at municipal offices and in the media, tracking income and expenditure.
The publication of such a dashboard would also expose evergreen contractors.
Finally, GOOD would like to see the boards of all state-owned entities – including Coega – reflecting the regional demographics of the metro, with the necessary skills and expertise appointed to these boards to ensure that the economy can be revitalized.
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