Thursday 15th October 2020, the Mandela Bay Development Agency held a report back Stakeholder Engagement meeting to give a report back on progress achieved to date. The Safety and Peace through Urban Upgrading (SPUU) has its genesis out of a National Treasury and then President Thabo Mbeki’s neighborhood development initiatives also referred to as the Urban Renewal programme that started in 2001. The Governments of South Africa and Germany agreed to cooperate in socio-economic and political stability, by contributing to violence and crime prevention.

We at Bayworld are pleased to announce that as of the 5th of October 2020 we opened our doors to the public. It has indeed been a long and testing journey as we had to put the health and safety of our clients, our employees and stakeholders first. We have taken this time to make sure that Bayworld is able to operate in compliance with Covid- 19 regulations as promulgated by Government.

This week I witnessed the end of a queue wondering what it was for. When I turned the corner, I thought it was for the bank, but upon turning the corner, I noticed that it went on for several hundred meters further waiting for the Department of Labour office open. This is a regular occurrence in central business districts (CBDs) especially on days when social grant payments are made and a daily occurrence at clinics. Thousands of people queue for hours before government offices open in the hope of being served before the day ends or systems go offline.

Today, Wednesday the 23rd the Mandela Bay Development Agency is launching the Lower Baakens Valley Zipline heritage investigation public participation process. Interested members of the public from anywhere in Nelson Mandela Bay are welcome to contribute their view. All comments can be submitted via the zero rated website portal, www.mbdaengage.co.za. A comprehensive Heritage Report is also available via this website.

The conversations about heritage can be quite a sensitive dialogue, especially for a country such as ours. If I look at my first project when I started at the Mandela Bay Development Agency in 2014, I was to restore the 1902 Gale Memorial in the South End Cemetery which at the time I knew very little about. The memorial was erected to commemorate those who perished in the hurricane on 2 September 1902 and are buried at the South End Cemetery.