Address by Executive Mayor Dr Danny Jordaan to Meeting of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan

Address by Executive Mayor Dr Danny Jordaan to meeting of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Council on Thursday, 28 May 2015

Honourable Speaker

Honourable Ministers

Honourable Premier of the Eastern Cape

Honourable MECs

Honourable Deputy Executive Mayor

Honourable Chief Whip

Respected Clergy,

Fellow Councillors,

City Manager and staff of the Metro

Distinguished Guests

Residents of the Nelson Mandela Bay,

Members of the Media,

Ladies and Gentlemen

All Protocol Observed

Greetings…

I am a son of this city; my formative years I spent in this city; I learned my politics in this city; I married and raised my family in this city; I played and promoted non-racial sport in this city; and I worked in many positions in this city. Up till today I am a citizen of this city, paying my rates and taxes without fail. I served my country at the national level, making all of us aware of what a country can achieve if we all work together for a common good. I have travelled the world and seen what both good and bad governance can do to and for the people of a country. I have been exposed to international best practice. Like me, many of our daughters and sons from this region have gone out into the rest of South Africa and further afield, and distinguished themselves in business, sport and entertainment. There are too many to mention, but certainly I have heard from them and their offers to plough back will not go unheeded. I have learnt a lot, I am prepared to keep on learning and I am committed to make available my expertise, and that of many in my extended networks, to make this metropole worthy of the name, Nelson Mandela.

I am humbled, for indeed it is a day of immeasurable honour, bestowed on me by the ANC. I do so with the conscious realization that this honour comes with immense responsibility and daunting challenges, as we enter the final phase of this term of local government and as we approach the impending 2016 Local Government Elections.

Allow me to state and reaffirm my love for this city, its people, its diversity, and its landscape, the vitality of its communities and the virtue of all its residents. To me, and I know to all of you out there, this is the greatest city in the world!

As I address you today, I feel moved by the sense of homecoming, of being warmly and affectionately embraced by a feeling of profound and primary belonging. Allow me to say in the simplest of terms: thank you, enkosi, baie dankie.

So today, I accept this honour and my deployment as a collective responsibility; not just the title of Executive Mayor, but I see this as a calling and a trust – a resolute commitment that we will deliver on our pledge to all our people residing in Nelson Mandela Bay.

In so doing we must examine our conscience and determine as individuals and as a collective whether we are doing enough to look beyond our own petty personal horizons to issues that are of a wider metro significance.

I say this because we are indeed fortunate to carry the name of the iconic statesman, the father of our nation, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, a person able to overcome the brutal vindictiveness and prejudices of our times.

We salute his legacy, his leadership, his moral guidance, toil and sacrifice to help build justice, good governance, peace, love and unity among all our peoples of the rainbow nation.

Today, however, we ask ourselves, how many of us heed that call, that call deep inside our souls that Madiba stood for?

I specifically mention this point because I strongly believe that the decisions we make must be informed by Tata Madiba’s example and form an integral part of the work we do for the betterment of the lives of our residents. It should not be an exercise or an attempt for cheap political point scoring, but about the manner we deliver services, manage public resources and involve our citizens in matters affecting them.

This is a challenge that faces both Councillors and Officials. We need Councillors and administrators who are dedicated to the upliftment of our people, who care deeply about their basic needs and wellbeing. If we deliver what our communities expect from us, we would have gone a long way to preserving and honouring the memory and legacy of Madiba.

We all have a tremendous responsibility of upholding the name and legacy of the iconic Nelson Mandela, both at Council and in the Community.

Needless to say, this is a challenge that requires strong leadership, political will and a radical change of paradigm, one that focuses on good governance, development and delivering quality services.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Despite the achievements and successes in the delivery of basic services, our city still leans towards the bottom range of South African metros on many other important indicators.

The economic growth rate of the Nelson Mandela metro in 2011 was only 1.4%, well below the national average. The City of Ekurhuleni, by contrast, maintained growth rates of close to 2.5% during this period.

On unemployment, Nelson Mandela metro is ranked last from all metros, running at 36.6%. This is markedly lower if compared with the national average of 26%. Youth unemployment is also the highest of all metros, and is pegged at 47%.

Of all people in the Nelson Mandela Metro, only 12% have higher education, and again we are the worst in the country. Tshwane by comparison scores more than double that at 24.2%. On top of that, anecdotal evidence exists that most of our young people exit the province upon graduation.

Our inability to provide jobs for the citizens of this metro not only stifles economic development, but further creates debilitating social conditions. Some of our schools are in a near state of collapse, certain areas in the townships have become no-go areas, drug abuse keeps on rising, and frankly speaking our city is dirty, with rubbish dumps springing up on every piece of open land.

These trends speak to social exclusion of the majority of our citizens, and large scale and unchecked urban decay. This can’t be good for our self-esteem, and certainly will not encourage investors to come to our cities in the numbers that will provide momentum to our economy and create much needed jobs.

I firmly believe that we can turn this situation around through collective effort and fixing the way our municipality functions. Amongst others we need to:

• Grow the local economy and create jobs.
• Modernise archaic administration and billing systems.
• Root out corruption at all levels.
• Fix decaying infrastructure and falling service levels.
• Prevent crime and promote social inclusion.
• Increase access to decent education and promote investor friendly skills development.

We must develop a holistic tourism strategy that will include the promotion of affordable flights to our city. We do not realise our share of both the international and domestic tourism cake on offer. Close to 10 million foreign visitors came to South Africa but only a fraction visited Nelson Mandela Bay. Cape Town took the bulk of this market. I do not have figures for domestic tourists but would submit on the face of it our beaches do not attract the same crowds we see in Durban and Cape Town.

I will further seek to break the deadlock that have seemed to paralyse the development of the much valued beachfront, removing the container depot that is much of an eyesore, to truly establish a waterfront that we all can be proud off. I will make sure that we leverage off and realise the potential the Coega Special Economic zone. The multibillion-dollar industrial development initiative is customized for heavy, medium and light industries. I was advised that national government took considerable steps in incentivising investors and certainly the marketing thereof will be a key consideration for me. The city’s unique advantage of possessing two ports, namely Port Elizabeth Harbour and Ngqura, creates an opportunity for the city to establish a strong and vibrant maritime sector.

I am aim to ensure that we enhance our quality of life through the provision leisure and sport facilities. We just have to utilise our world class stadium much better.

A period in which we shall restore and build public confidence in the capacity of our Metro Council and administration by making sound decisions that will change our overall performance, the quality of life in our communities, enhance community participation in changing their lives in partnership with the municipality. In furtherance of this ideal special attention and focus should be given to the needs of our youth, the promotion and development of the sporting fraternity and leverage the potential of the rich arts and culture scene in the city

Hence, I am under no illusion that it is no ordinary task when one considers the job at hand. Needless to say it demands an extraordinary effort by an extraordinary collective. A leadership collective that moves away from making promises, and recognizes the importance of delivering on its commitments on time, and ensures the delivery of quality services to our communities. Given the daunting challenges, it is important to confront our political differences in a manner that responds to community needs and challenges.

Given the needs of the metro, and the challenges we collectively face in fixing the municipal administration, we will now under the aegis of COGTA, working with National and the Provincial Ministries, deploy a team that will identify and implement operationally appropriate interventions. In the coming weeks the Support Package and Action Plan will be presented, detailing and announcing concrete programmes and interventionsas the new administration unfolds.

And central to the Plan is the Back to Basics Programme (B2B), which will be looking at ways of creating effective institutions of local governance that will strengthen the operationalisation of municipal performance.

Within the next few weeks I will spell out a comprehensive support plan to turn around the fortunes of this city.

Today, more than ever, we need that spirit of unity and cooperation to realize our plans!

Our communities are clamouring for change and the key to that change has been placed in our hands as their legitimate and mandated leaders. Our current challenges represent an opportunity to present an alternative, and a creativity to resolve issues by posing the difficult questions and searching for solutions through common sense and common ground.

The challenges must continue to remind all of us that it is only through collective work and collaboration amongst all political parties that we can find sustainable solutions as local government - because we want our municipality to become a benchmark for efficiency, good governance and overall excellence!

Honourable Speaker:

We are all cognizant that the ensuing weeks and months are going to be a challenging period given the mandate of our communities and many tasks we have to tackle. This I know will be an exceptionally busy period for councilors and officials of this municipality. However, I would like to reassure the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay that service delivery and the Metro’s core business will continue unabated. The message that I would like to emphasise is that 2015/2016 cannot and shall not be business as usual, but a period of relentless and fervent commitment to not only maintain service delivery levels and development, but raising the bar much higher.

We can only move forward by working together with our businesses, our places of worship, our community groups, our universities and our labour unions, all of which share a commitment to our future. We are deeply greatful for the support given by our trade unions in the municipality.

The NMBs continued success as a city depends on people of every persuasion, who are willing to make that extra effort to build stronger, healthier and safer communities in every part of this metro. We know that our communities are kept awake by blazing guns through rampant gang warfare that keeps some of our Northern Areas communities out of bed and under their beds. We have to step up safety in our neighbourhoods, on our streets and in our hospitals. We must become one of the safest cities again!

Thank you for committing to these responsibilities and contributing to the common goal of good governance and serving the citizens of the NMB.

With the Grace of God Almighty, and in His infinite Wisdom, I Daniel Alexander ‘Danny’ Jordaan have taken the solemn pledge as councillor of the NMBM to serve all its people/communities without fear, favour or prejudice.

With this pledge firmly in mind, and with your indulgence, allow me to thank His Excellency, President Jacob Zuma, and my political home, the African National Congress for having the belief and faith in me to lead and serve as the fifth democratically elected Executive Mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

Allow me to express my profound gratitude and pay tribute to my predecessors, the former Executive Mayors, of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, especially our first democratically elected Mayor Nceba Faku, and my immediate predecessor Benson Fihla. It would be remiss not to single out ‘Oom Ben’ Fihla - a true veteran, servant and stalwart of our glorious movement. Your wisdom and tenacity will forever be a shining beacon and an example of how we should conduct ourselves in all that we do. We thank you all for your considerable leadership and contributions during your respective terms in office.

Before I close there is one further important item we need to conclude today, and that is the budget for the coming financial year. On 24th April 2015 Council adopted the Draft Budget as tabled, for further public participation and consultation. At the same meeting, Council considered National Treasury’s assessment of the funding status of the Draft Budget and resolved that actions should be taken in order to table a surplus budget. This should include cost containment measures such as cutting non-core expenditure, thereby reducing the operational overheads and capital expenditure.

In compliance with Section 24 (1) of the MFMA, I recommend that the Council notes the Draft Budget, including the associated recommendations as adopted on 24th April 2015.

Furthermore in compliance with Section 25 (1) of the MFMA, I recommend that an amended version of the Draft Budget be considered within seven days of this Council meeting. The reasons for this are that the submission emanating from the public participation process must still be considered. Furthermore the review of the Draft Budget, in consultation with National Treasury, is still underway, in order to ensure that the Draft Budget is cash backed.

The amended version of the Draft Budget will thus be informed by the submissions emanating from the public participation process, and the need to ensure a budget surplus. It is my intention that this Council continues to generate operating surpluses in order to fund the infrastructure investment needed to grow our city and deliver services to all our people.

I would like to thank the Mayoral Committee, all Councillors, the City Manager, CFO, COO, Executive Directors, Directors and municipal staff for their continued loyalty and dedication in their various roles and capacities in serving the NMBM and all its people.

And of course my family, my wife Roxanne and two children Luana and Mikhail, my late parents, my siblings,and of course the Nelson Mandela community, for without your constant support and guidance I would not be here today.

Compatriots, we must believe that even in the face of what seems insurmountable, this municipality will not shirk its responsibilities. We are determined to stay on course- on the road to a better and worthy future!

As Nelson Mandela counselled us, “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.”

We thank you!

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