Mayor Snubs Summit To Rescue Bay Economy

Organisers of a one-day summit, organized to discuss and come up with ways and means to recharge the Nelson Mandela Bay economy, were left embarrassed and scrambling for answers after the Metro’s Executive Mayor, Babalwa Lobishe, snubbed the gathering at the 11th hour.

Lobishe was meant to open the summit -- setting the pace for the discussions on the day. The summit is organised by the Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council (ECSECC) and the Nelson Mandela Bay Civil Society Coalition. The groundwork for the summit, themed From Dialogue to Delivery: A Social Compact for Nelson Mandela Bay’s Economic Recovery, started in November last year. It took place yesterday at the Bishops Lodge in Gqeberha.

While participants continued with discussion of how to give the local economy a new lease on life, the mayor’s non-attendance stood out like a sore thumb.

While she cited a special council meeting as the reason for not being able to attend, The Herald reports that Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Speaker, Cllr Eugene Johnson, announced the first citizen's absence at the very same council meeting.

According to The Herald, Johnson said: “I must just inform council that the troika has received letters from the attorneys of the suspended city manager [Noxolo Nqwazi], which were going to be tabled, but unfortunately, due to the absence of a quorum and the absence of the mayor who brought an item on the suspended city manager, we will not be able to deal with that, as well as other items brought by [acting] city manager [Lonwabo Ngoqo] as well as the mayor to council.”

Organisers said Lobishe sent in an apology just hours before her scheduled speech -- citing a special council meeting at the Feather Market Hall. According to the council agenda, seen by The Coastal, the meeting was only meant to start an hour after her opening address at the summit. To make matters worse for the mayor, the meeting failed to quorate due to the non-attendance of the Economic Freedom Fighters and African National Congress councillors.

Instead of returning to the summit and joining those meeting to find solutions to the problems facing the metro, Lobishe instead chose to go address visiting foreign journalists at the Coega Development Corporation.

The summit brought together different stakeholders including representatives of government departments and its entities, the business sector, the faith-based organisations, civil society, non-governmental organisations, organized labour and the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Zanoxolo Wayile of the Nelson Mandela Bay Civil Society Coalition (NMBCSC) decried the absence of the executive mayor and other decision makers. Despite this concern, the NMBCSC said the summit delivered a firm foundation for another engagement to consolidate the combined effort to bring positive change to the city.

Siyabonga Hans, who leads the Economic Recovery Task Team of the Nelson Mandela Bay Civil Society Coalition (NMBCSC), said the initiative grew out of concerns about factories closing or scaling down, investors holding back and jobs disappearing particularly in automotive and component manufacturing.

“The workshop agreed that these problems could not be solved by any one sector on its own,” Hans said.

The initiative has identified bulk infrastructure, crime and safety, and trade and investment as its three central areas of intervention. Infrastructure such as water, sanitation, electricity, roads and the port directly influence investment decisions and the ability of existing industries to operate.

Crime and especially the theft and vandalism of municipal infrastructure featured prominently, with participants arguing that insecurity imposes additional costs on businesses and taxpayers while affecting residents’ ability to work and participate in the economy.

The coalition had planned to use the summit to establish a local structure, similar to the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), as the responsible vehicle to drive the implementation of its recovery plan as well as to restore the efficient implementation of basic services and the rebuilding of investor confidence in the Bay area.

ECSECC Chief Executive Officer Vuyo Mosana, who delivered his remarks via an online connection, said the partnership with the Nelson Mandela Bay Civil Society Coalition is not an accident and that the establishment of a local council from various spheres will go a long way towards bringing change to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.