GQEBERHA – The Nelson Mandela Bay Civil Society Coalition has put forward an 18-month plan to help stabilise the metro, improve service delivery and restore confidence in the local economy.

The Rebuild Plan was unveiled ahead of the Nelson Mandela Bay Economic Summit on 29 and 30 September and focuses on governance, municipal capacity, service delivery, financial management and public monitoring.

According to coalition chairperson Monga Peter, the latest plan differs from previous recovery proposals because it formally brings civil society into the proposed recovery process.

“What is different? First of all, we are not contesting state power. Year in and year out, the plans before never had a component for civil society,” Peter said.

Plan includes specialist ‘SWAT’ Team

Peter said the coalition’s proposal included a temporary specialist “SWAT Team” to assist the municipality in areas where there were critical capacity gaps.

The proposed team would include expertise in areas such as finance, engineering, legal services, human resources, governance, service delivery and planning.

Peter said the team would complement the existing municipal administration rather than create a parallel structure.

“We form part of a complementary governance effort,” he said. The 18-month plan is divided into three phases.

The first three months would focus on stabilising leadership, governance, essential services, municipal finances and supply chains.

Months three to 12 would focus on strengthening municipal systems, addressing critical skills shortages and improving operational coordination.

Meanwhile, the final six months would focus on consolidating improvements, rebuilding confidence and supporting investment and job creation.

Proposal to monitor municipal recovery

The coalition is also proposing a monthly public Rebuild Dashboard to track progress in areas including water and electricity services, roads, waste management, revenue collection, capital spending, procurement and planning applications.

Peter said the intention was to ensure that progress could be measured publicly.

The coalition plans to take the proposal to the Economic Summit, where government, business, labour, civil society and other stakeholders will discuss the metro’s recovery.

He added that the timing of the plan was also significant, with the local government elections scheduled for 4 November.

“This timing is also assisting to force change in the sense that part of our canvas plan in all the critical departments in the form of corporate governance and political parties is almost like conditional,” he said.

“If you are wanting our votes, this is what we are putting forward — some kind of a wish list and demand.”

The coalition says the plan is intended to support, rather than replace, the municipality, with Council retaining its oversight role and the Executive Mayor and City Manager responsible for implementation.

It is also calling for cooperation between government, business, labour, communities and other stakeholders.

ALSO READ: Nelson Mandela Bay SOMA overshadowed by political boycott