Statement by Councillor Danny Jordaan, the Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Metro At

STATEMENT BY COUNCILLOR DANNY JORDAAN, THE EXECUTIVE MAYOR OF NELSON MANDELA METRO AT THE COUNCIL MEETING

THURSDAY, 28 JANUARY 2016

Honourable Speaker

Members of Mayoral Committee

Councillor Colleagues

Acting City Manager

Officials

Members of the Media

The Public Gallery

Ladies and gentlemen

Delegation from the SANDF

Molweni. Good morning. A warm welcome to you all and compliments of the season!

Today, we assemble here in Motherwell, as part of our commitment to taking Council to the people. In 2015 we held Council meetings in Nangoza Jebe hall, in Helenvale and in Uitenhage. Our meeting here is particularly significant. Motherwell has been a site of community struggle for decades, and at the forefront of the battle against apartheid. Rightfully it was one of the first areas identified for urban renewal, granted through a Presidential decree, and staying true to our pledge of ensuring participatory governance by bringing the work of Council closer to all our communities. While we still face many challenges in Motherwell, through the MURP, we are now realizing and visibly experiencing an ever growing Motherwell community that is filled with hope and dynamism.

Motherwell is also one of the first placed to be visited by Nelson Mandela after his release. As you will recall, that welcome rally was attended by 600 000 people.

Allow me to welcome you back after the festive period recess, and wish each and everyone a blessed and prosperous year ahead. As we embark on this New Year 2016, I hope that you are all geared up and ready to take on the sobering and exciting challenges.

I also want to take this opportunity to welcome the new and returning students to our University and Colleges. I want to make it a priority that the city wide wi-fi project is finalized for your benefit. This is your home away from home, make the most of it.

Allow me to express my profound appreciation and thanks to those officials of the NMBM that have ensured a successful Festive Season programme that has by and large been without major incidents. A special word of gratitude and thanks goes to the Rapid Response Task Team, NMB Tourism, fire department, traffic department, SAPS, safety and security, ambulance service for being on stand-by duty as well as our cleansing departments for keeping litter and refuse under control – traffic personnel and cleaning teams were visible at all major points and all major beaches keeping the vigilance on our roads and picking litter throughout the course of the festive period. I am immensely proud of the metro staff who worked or were on standby throughout the festive period, often for very long hours, over weekends and public holidays, to ensure that our metro provided services during the busy festive period. Well done to you all!

This highlights the importance of the metro working closely with all stakeholders to ensure that we do not lose the cooperative and friendly spirit and tremendous tourist destination that we are and live in. I thank the tourism and leisure industry as well as our communities for their immense contribution to promote our city and making this metro a welcoming and friendly destination for all our visitors.

Fortunately there were few serious incidents on roads in our Metro. However, on our beaches, two fatal incidents were reported. Other than that and from feedback and debriefing sessions I received, we can conclusively say that tourists and residents alike had a bumper and most enjoyable time in our Metro. This was made possible through the dedication and sacrifice of staff who committed themselves to serve the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.

My pride in this metro is tempered by a great sadness. It is so unfortunate that we have lost a dear cadre. Comrade Mzukisi Skade aka Godfrey Zondi. Mzukisi was one of the best and the brightest MK soldiers and was handpicked to be Comrade OR Tambo’s close protector. He travelled everywhere with the world renowned ANC leader, and was himself highly respected. Mzukisi was integral to the MK Veterans Organisation, and diligently represented them on the Regional Task Team. His passing is a massive loss to the movement and country, a loss which I believe will galvanize us as the collective and bring us close and one that will inspire us to work together for the betterment of our communities. His funeral takes place this Saturday, and I hope that all of you will join me in paying respects to the family on the day.

Only three days ago we also lost another former MK combatant, Cde Hermanus Loots from Gelvandale. This former Member of Parliament was part of the gallant Wankie Campaign which saw our fighters take on the apartheid forces

Honourable Speaker, I have noted the debate that took place earlier on racism. I want to pledge on my own behalf and on behalf of the Mayoral Committee that we will do everything possible to lead by example to build social cohesion and fight racism. Racism is an abomination which has no place in our democratic society.

Honourable Speaker, we are cognizant that 2016 is going to be a challenging year given the mandate of our communities and many tasks we have to tackle in this election year. This we know will be an exceptionally busy year for councilors and officials of this municipality. However, I would like to reassure the residents of the NMB that service delivery and the Metro’s core business will continue unabated. The message that I would like to emphasise is that 2016 cannot be business as usual but a year of relentless and fervent commitment to not only maintain service delivery levels and development, but by raising the bar higher and higher.

On 8 January this year we celebrated the 104th birthday of our glorious movement the ANC founded in 1912. A movement that comes with a rich heritage of fighting for democracy, non-racialism and non-sexism. Indeed a heritage which is an integral part of the fabric of this city and our national pride. A national heritage which we believe is appreciated across the globe and across the political divide. The ANC is a party of the people, and is the only party capable of leading the process of national liberation and transformation in our country. As Executive Mayor I commit myself, and the Mayoral committee members that I have appointed, to implementing ANC policy in this metro. This means that in the coming year, we will continue to:

· Accelerate the pace and quality of service delivery to all our people.

· Use all of the resources at our disposal to address the needs of the most disadvantaged, and eradicate poverty in our metro.

· Root out the vicious vestiges of racism in our city, and even in this Council.

· Promote social equity and economic empowerment of the previously disadvantage.

· Promote growth, job creation and economic development in our city.

· Ensure good, clean, accountable governance and root out fraud and corruption in all its forms.

Notwithstanding the challenges, we have made substantial progress in delivering on our mandated functions as a local government, including the provision of clean water, sewage systems, electricity reticulation, refuse removal, storm water systems, road access, public health, planning and law enforcement. The focus of our activities is on improving and expediting service delivery to the communities of the NMB and constantly improving the efficiency and quality of service delivery. A critically important key priority that needs our dedicated attention is that of providing our residents with integrated human settlements. With the support of the national Minister of Human Settlements, the pace of housing delivery is now accelerating, and we have been able to bring the Directorate back under control. We, however, acknowledge that the pace of providing integrated human settlements still needs further acceleration.

Last week’s Herald carried a front page story and an editorial on the stability that our new acting City Manager has brought to our city, and how his no-nonsense style is demanding better performance and bringing improvements. It confirms that our decision as Council to appoint him was the right one, and I would like to congratulate him for his efforts so far.

Our achievements are real and despite the disinformation campaign – remarkable. We have been honest about the challenges we faced. Notwithstanding we have tackled the most important things and this has pulled us out of the doldrums and from a situation that was chaotic to say the least. We acknowledge that there are no easy ways out and lasting solutions demand hard work. What keeps us together is the constant vigil of Madiba, his timeless attributes that have held us together and will forever do so! It requires working together, getting to know our communities better, demystifying our differences and gaining a more precise sense of what we can and cannot do. We must take back our Metro from corruption, fraud and inefficiencies. The City Manager has our support to ensure accelerated service delivery, accountability and action against those who fail to perform.

On the local economic development front, the NMB has developed a cohesive strategy to position itself as a hub for trade and investment. This year we will continue to pursue other investment avenues local, national and international, in order to build a business-friendly NMB, improve on service delivery and infrastructure investment as we continue to promote investment, economic growth and job creation.

A key aspect is that of job creation. This we know is a key priority because it will alleviate poverty among the residents of the NMB, and in this regard we are encouraged by the continued success of our EPWP in creating jobs and opportunities through partners such as Coega IDZ, NMB Business Chamber and Nafcoc. The War on Leaks programme is training apprentice plumbers and bringing in unemployed youth to help fix leaks in this City. In responding to youth unemployment, we are creating work opportunities for unemployed graduates in the field of engineering, specifically in the Infrastructure and Engineering and Electricity and Energy Directorates.

We are also working hard to ensure that the long delayed Council resolution to establish the Metro Police is implemented without any further delay. The Acting City Manager is seized with this matter and we will give regular updates to Council about it.

Last year I initiated a process of identification and expediting of allocation of land for Church sites. This matter has now been prepared for submission to Council. I am glad that the Administration has developed a proposal to ensure that Churches are not charged on the same rates as businesses

We also give credence to the importance of urban renewal and transformation as a key priority. In this regard and through the work of the MBDA we have seen the transformation in the mandated areas within its jurisdiction of which Motherwell is a prime example. We are now expanding the focus of the MBDA to include the upgrading and renewal of our township areas.

In our efforts to make the NMB a more compassionate place for vulnerable residents, our programmes and campaigns such as the repair and renovation of dilapidated school buildings and facilities at a number of schools are a shining example of what can be achieved through our collaborative endeavors. The work of the Municipality in partnership with all social partners is yielding outcomes which have already been concretely felt in our communities. The Municipality, through the Expanded Public Works Program has now appointed more than 330 people as non teaching staff (caretakers, administrators and security) at our schools. On Friday last week, we signed an agreement with the Department of Basic Education to set aside R11million for much needed renovations at schools across the Metro.

We appeal to all our social partners, churches, individuals to come forward and show solidarity by lending a hand to our education impasse in the Northern Areas in order to assist learners. In this regard I express my appreciation to the media for their support and partnership on this matter.

The so-called indefinite suspension of learning and teaching at some schools in the Northern Areas is affecting our children adversely. We also appeal to business to assist with the provision of resources for struggling schools and learners. This initiative is driven by my office and all contributions can be directed to my office.

We must also support the process initiated by Mr Phumlo Masualle, the Honourable Premier to intervene in the schools crisis. As we speak, the Task Team established by the Premier is working on appointment of educators, settlement of outstanding payments or educators, delivery of more than 70 temporary classrooms as from 01 February 2016 as well as expediting the approval of application by some schools for Section 21 Status.

One again we extend our congratulations to the Matric Class of 2015 in the NMB who have excelled and have done the Metro proud. On the other hand those who have suffered ‘setbacks’, I appeal to you to continue with your studies and aspire to improve on your results. You must make use of the “second chance” and other opportunities created by the Department of Education.

Allow me to take this opportunity to thank the political leadership of the NMBM, Acting City Manager, COO, CFO and Executive Directors and all our staff for their respective roles in assisting with our achievements and challenges as reflected in our Annual Report and Mid-Year Performance Review. I urge everyone to keep up the hard work as we enter the busier second half of the financial year.