Nelson Mandela Bay is the most ‘fixable' metro in SA

Daily Maverick

20-05-2025

Nelson Mandela Bay is the hub of the South African automotive industry, with the largest concentration of original equipment manufacturers and component suppliers that account for more than 40% of the country's auto sector employment and more than half of vehicle exports.
This metro, which we have dubbed the Bay of Opportunity, is the country's only two-port city, and with more than 300 days of sunshine a year, is a great place to live, work and visit. It is home to leading manufacturers in sectors such as beverages and pharmaceuticals, the hub of SA's wool and mohair processing and exports, the second-biggest citrus production area in the country and home to two of the country's largest industrial automation and software development specialists.
The depth of manufacturing activity and technological expertise is a key strength, but this sector is under severe pressure, as evidenced by recent plant closures and production volume reductions, with accompanying loss of employment.
The challenges are not only local, but globally induced by rapid technological advancement and digitisation in manufacturing, the shift to new energy vehicles, and most recently, the impact of import tariffs by the US, sparking uncertainty and a wave of trade wars across the globe.
As a country, we are on the back foot where the competitiveness of production locations drives global manufacturing decisions. Nelson Mandela Bay is particularly vulnerable, given our high reliance on manufacturing and, particularly, the automotive sector.
It is not only manufacturing which is under strain – key sectors including tourism and retail are feeling the pressure, as are SMMEs across the spectrum of the local economy. These are especially sensitive to increasing costs of doing business, such as rising electricity tariffs and revenue losses caused by power outages and the impacts of crime.
While we can't tame the global headwinds, the Bay business community has unified behind taking action on the local challenges where we can make a meaningful difference.
With almost a decade of political instability in the metro council, with a revolving door of executive mayors and city managers, many of the executive directors in acting positions, and a drain of critical skills, have severely impacted the maintenance of infrastructure and delivery of basic services. Electricity losses in the last financial year, for example, amounted to R1.3-billion, and almost half the metro's billable water is 'lost' to leaks and pipe bursts.
The most critical role in the metro is that of city manager, and since 2020, we have seen 15 incumbents come and go. It is clear to us as organised business that if this position were permanently filled by a competent, skilled and experienced individual, this could be the single most impactful way to help bring back stability, and along with it, the more efficient delivery of basic services to ratepayers and communities.
Practical solutions
These challenges are not unique to the Bay, but what is unique is the collaborative rolling up of sleeves and solution-seeking that the NMB Business Chamber has been driving over the past three years. We are by no means trying to take over government responsibilities, but instead of complaining from the sidelines, we are focusing our energies on finding practical solutions which can have a positive impact.
As part of a Master Memorandum of Understanding which we have in place with the municipality, engineers and other technical experts from industry are volunteering their time to work alongside municipal officials to resolve problems such as frequent unscheduled electricity outages and an overburdened sanitation system, by finding root causes and rolling out a programme of action to fix these. And, by and large, we have found municipal officials willing to work with us, because they too want to get the job done.
Through our Adopt A Leak initiative, we fixed leaks in seven impoverished areas, saving the metro 1.7 million litres of water a day, demonstrating what is possible if action is taken on the ground.
Our Adopt-a-Substation project sees business stepping in to provide security against vandalism and theft at key substations. The Struandale industrial area recently marked two years free of vandalism and theft that had caused unscheduled outages, thanks to security provided at the four substations serving manufacturers and surrounding residential areas.
Initiated by industry in Perseverance, the concept of businesses forming geographic clusters to lobby collectively and work together on tackling issues specific to their areas has become a movement of 11 clusters across the metro, supported by the Business Chamber.
We have seen improved lighting and security measures on the beachfront, cleanups taking place across the metro, repairs to potholes, drains, traffic lights and streetlights, and reinstating road markings – all contributed to and participated in voluntarily by a growing number of businesses.
Other metros and national business organisations are now turning to Nelson Mandela Bay to see how we do it, and how these models can be replicated.
As the third-smallest metro in population terms, and the second-smallest by area, with manageable urban sprawl and a business community willing to work together for the greater good and 'hold the line', we believe it is not too late to fix Nelson Mandela Bay.
We firmly believe that the Bay is the most fixable of South Africa's metros and is the best possible place for the rolling out of innovative interventions, which can potentially be replicated elsewhere.