One of the stand-out characteristics of people from Nelson Mandela Bay is our can-do attitude.
This is abundantly evident in the growing momentum of an incredible spirit of volunteerism by local businesses and residents in response to challenges relating to service delivery and infrastructure shortcomings.
Crime, grime, and lack of maintenance of roads and infrastructure drive away the investment, tourism, and job creation our metro so desperately needs. For those who love and choose to stay in the Bay but would just like to see it become a better living and working environment that works again for all citizens – we know that complaining from the sidelines makes little difference.
If we want to see change, we have to get involved and make it happen, and we need to do this with whoever shares our goals and values. Realising this, the Business Chamber takes an action-oriented approach to the problems facing our metro.
The key change-makers are geographic clusters supported by the Chamber, where public-spirited businesspeople get together to volunteer time and resources to address issues affecting their specific area. The positive impact of the clusters has seen the movement growing, and there are now 11, spread across the metro from the mixed business/residential areas of the beachfront, Baakens Valley, Fairview, Newton Park and Walmer, to industrial areas – Deal Party, Neave/Korsten, North End, Perseverance, Struandale and Kariega.
Many of the issues are common – safety and security, cleanliness, roads, sewerage – but each cluster develops its own approach, depending on priorities, resources, and the nature of their area. Unscheduled electricity outages, often caused by vandalism and theft, are critical in industrial areas, for example. Perseverance and Struandale prioritised the security of electrical substations and have seen a substantial drop in incidents through businesses stepping in to provide guarding, cameras, and monitoring.
On the beachfront, the cluster has collaborated with various role players to improve security. The North End cluster repainted road signage and is considering plans to revive the North End lake as a recreation, sporting, fishing, and educational resource. In Neave/Korsten, the cluster has partnered with MES. Together they run a clean-up and maintenance programme – litter clearing, weed spraying, repairing potholes, restoring bollards and road markings – that has seen two of the MES workers obtain jobs with an area company.
It is not just about businesses stepping in to fix problems. Residents, schools, and other organisations are getting involved too – for example, in the Tidy Kragga Kamma Road Initiative, which recently started work on cleaning up a 5km stretch of that busy road. All of this shows that by working together, a number of small contributions can add up to a meaningful difference for the greater good of all.
More and more national business and civil society organisations are showing interest in what we are doing in the Bay and are asking how we do it. But do they know what we know? It’s all about the people. It is our collective can-do spirit which is driving positive change.
Denise van Huyssteen is the Chief Executive Officer of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber.
