More than 25 000 Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality households are set to benefit from
the implementation of 141 human settlements projects after the metro secured more than R300 million from National Government to upgrade informal settlements.
The Informal Settlement Upgrading Partnership Grant (ISUPG), will be used for the installation
of water, sanitation infrastructure and electrification of informal settlements in the upcoming 2023- 2024 financial year.
This grant will benefit the 156 approved informal settlements across the metro. As per
the current business plan, 25 202 households are set to benefit.
NMBM Human Settlements Portfolio Head, Tukela Zumani, said: “This project seeks to
improve the livelihood of Nelson Mandela Bay residents living in informal settlements. The
National Government, through the Division of Revenue Act, gazetted R349 635 million for our city for the upgrading of informal settlements for the year 2023-2024. The Human Rights
package includes sanitation, water and electricity, which are compulsory.”
Zumani added that electricity is optional
depending on the availability of funds.
“Our business plan includes the security of tenure and
formalisation, be it settlement-wide or functional, and title deeds, permanent infrastructure, including land acquisition, bulk infrastructure, individual municipal engineering services and
serviced sites.”
He added that social and economic amenities were included in the business plan
following input from all relevant directorates.
“We shall be implementing community public meetings to consult with the
affected communities in order to incorporate their input in our business plan before we submit
to National Government in preparation for the release of the funds.
“We would like to
encourage all residents in the affected areas to come out in numbers to engage with the municipality and ensure that their inputs are recorded so that they can enjoy the services they need.
Public participation is a key factor in the process of finalising the business plan where
councillors and communities will have a final opinion on the submission.
“We want the projects
to run smoothly when the new financial year starts and we want to conduct thorough
consultation in order to avoid protest action,” he said.
Public participation meetings will take place as follow:
Kariega Town Hall: February 22, 2023 (Wards: 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
Motherwell Support Centre: February 23, 2023 (Wards: 23, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
Nangoza Jebe Hall: February 24, 2023 (Wards: 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 33, 36)
Feather Market Reception: February 27, 2023 (Wards: 7, 10, 11, 13, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37,
38, 41, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 39, 40)
Nangoza Jebe Hall: February 28, 2023 (Wards: 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 90, 20, 21, 22, 24).
All meetings will take place from 10:00.
ISSUED BY THE NELSON MANDELA BAY COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
