The famous author and leadership thought leader Steven Covey is credited with the famous saying, that says, if we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to keep getting what we’re getting. In other words, unless we embrace periodic change and resetting, we are unlikely to change the trajectory, and by implication, the results or outcomes. The Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) was formed in 2003, and 22 years later the organisation has morphed and changed over that period, directly or indirectly due to both internal and external dynamics.
In June 2023, when I accepted the privilege to join this organisation, I knew then that to achieve a different result, bold changes were necessary. Change is not always welcome, but it is necessary. Having observed the entity from my previous role as Executive Director for Economic Development and later as Acting City Manager, I thought the transition would be easier, but on arrival a different reality appeared.
The past two-and-a-half years since joining the MBDA have been a journey of change, adaption, improvement of systems, policies, controls, and inculcating a culture of accountability and high performance. The setback we received in 2023/24 when the entity achieved a qualified audit emanated from control deficiencies in the prior year, 2022/23, and were picked up in the 2023/24 audit. The task of turning around a qualification outcome required a robust audit action improvement plan and the resolve to take tough decisions.
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Annually, the Auditor-General paints a gloomy picture of serial non-compliance with procurement process that go unresolved and unaccounted for. More recently, as a first in South Africa, a court judgement opened the gates to municipalities and entities to go after officials for gross financial misconduct and acts related to irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, by attaching assets to recover funds. This is a warning to accounting officers that should you not take action; one will be taken against you.
Elsewhere in Ngaka Modiri Molema District in the North-West Province, the Auditor-General (AG) issued South Africa’s first Certificate of Debt (CoD) since the Public Audit Act was strengthened in 2019. The CoD issued to the Municipal Manager of Ngaka Modiri Molema District, ordered him to repay R4.6 million. As we await our own AGSA audit outcomes for the 2024/25 period, we are confident that all of the efforts we have put into improvements in the control environment will pay off.
We expect no less than an unqualified audit because we have confidence in the difficult, but necessary work we have had to undertake. The arrival of a new board also presents an equally significant opportunity for positive change, to reset, and to refocus on what is already working well and improve on the challenging areas. The assembly of this leadership with expansive experience spanning law, built environment, property development, governance, commercial, arts and management expertise, can only be good news for the entity, citizens of the Bay and the parent municipality.
For nearly three years, the entity’s major catalytic programmes contained in the five-year plan have not progressed as we hoped. These major catalytic programmes require sustained political will, unyielding support, strong leadership and influential networks that have the ability to crowd in investments and collaborations through public and private partnerships. I believe the newly assembled leadership has all the capabilities to move us forward.
The game-changing catalytic projects that demand urgent attention and resourcing include the long outstanding International Convention Centre (ICC), Aerotropolis, Waterfront Development, Happy Valley/Bayworld Programme, NMB Stadium Precinct and the Tower of Light, among others. An ICC is the ideal catalyst to boost the struggling tourism industry due to Nelson Mandela Bay’s unique positioning, geographically and naturally. We are surrounded by unique wildlife experiences and game, and only less than an hour’s drive. Pairing wildlife experiences with conferences and exhibitions is unique to the Bay with its diverse heritage.
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