2024/25 a historic breakthrough year for MBDA
B
y Anele Qaba – Chief Executive Officer
On Friday the 27 of June the Mandela Bay Development Agency, an entity founded by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and the Industrial Development Corporation in 2003, held a milestone event to reflect on the agency's 22 years of existence. Founded on the back of a rapidly growing city population due to intra-province migration, a central business district that was suffering from the negative impact of capital flight, urban influx and a fast-contracting automotive economy, the MBDA was designed to be a turnkey project management house of the Bay municipality.
These were the words of the first democratic era executive mayor, tata uNceba Faku, last Friday. Faku knows this very well because, together with his colleagues in Council back in 2003, they had a vision to create a trusted vehicle that could tackle the challenges of economic development while the municipality dealt with the mountain of apartheid spatial planning backlog in service delivery.
Faku narrated this on Friday as being part of the early thinking around the world for development agencies to complement the work of local government without the added bureaucracy and red tape. Indeed, the MBDA enjoyed early success since inception with major projects in the inner city, and specifically around Central. Many of the initiatives were accelerated by the advent of the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup. The MBDA was also able to get a lot done with speed because the entity operated with the confidence of the city fathers; it had received significant technical and financial support from development institutions, but most importantly, the MBDA operated in a stable political environment.
This upward trajectory all changed in 2016 with the advent of coalition governments, particularly post elections, when the new establishment of the day championed a different path, less supportive of a development agency model. It was not long when funding for a robust security programme in Central was halted, a patrol and K9 unit programme that was dealing with crime in Central efficiently. When this programme ended, what followed was rampant vandalism and a rapid decline of Central as the criminals had no one to fear. Today, several upgrades including Govan Mbeki Avenue and Parliament Street upgrades, which are a shadow of what they were before 2016.
In a rare joint appearance on Friday were three generations of executive mayors in one room: Faku, Zanoxolo Wayile and, more recently, Gary van Niekerk. A shared view among them is that the historical mission of the MBDA has not been fully realised yet, and council has all the keys to ensuring that the entity succeeds.
A highlight of the evening was the recognition of lifetime achievement award for Legacy in Action to former mayor Faku for his immense contribution to development and leading with vision. The award celebrates a special and outstanding individual whose long-standing work in local government has transformed communities, uplifted lives and driven sustainable programmes and progress in Nelson Mandela Bay.
During his acceptance speech, and as a challenge to the current leadership, former mayor Faku pleaded with council to reconnect with the vision that set off the MBDA, to dedicate time to understanding the entity and to consciously strengthen the entity.
It is befitting then that the MBDA closes 2025 with projected historic performance outcomes across all metrics. The entity's annual performance targets are set in consultation with the NMBM, and the performance is monitored on a quarterly basis by the NMBM. The entity is also subjected to the scrutiny of oversight bodies such as MPAC and provincially by COGTA. In the six months, the MBDA hosted an oversight visit by the provincial COGTA standing committee, and the municipality's MPAC performed oversight over the MBDA through site visits in June. It is important to demonstrate once again that the MBDA prides itself on accountability as one of its values.
For the period that ended on 30 June, its interim performance projections are that it will exceed performance targets, both key performance indicators (KPIs) and budget performance, landing at over 80% for KPI and over 90% on budget performance. These projections are historic when one considers the historic consistent rollovers that have been the norm over many years. On the ground, it also recently handed over several completed projects to the NMBM and continues to activate the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium Commercial Plan.
Recently, it completed the NMB Stadium World of Windows conference facility, and in the past week, it launched a new catalytic event, the North End Lake Jazz Concert, dedicated to activating the potential of the underutilised waterbody.
Next Saturday, the stadium will see the mighty Springboks facing off against Italy for a historic international rugby test match that's setting the city into a rugby frenzy, in part because of the behind-the-scenes lobby contributions of the MBDA.
All its efforts at the Tramways, Science Centre and at the NMB Stadium are geared at lessening the dependency on rate payers and propelling the MBDA into a sustainable entity. This is the historical mission Faku referred to, a municipal entity that can stimulate the economy of the Bay and create job opportunities for the city's citizens. If the end of 2024/25 performance is a benchmark, then 2026 promises to unleash the full potential of the MBDA.
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