Nelson Mandela Bay executive mayor Babalwa Lobishe said in her first 100 days in office she and her mayoral committee rallied to be a responsive government delivering services to the people of the Metro.
Lobishe was reflecting on her first three months at the helm of the city in a wide-ranging address during a special council meeting on Thursday.
"We have demonstrated commitment to discharge our constitutional obligation to deliver an accountable government which has endeavoured to ensure access to sustainable services, deal with environmental challenges which undermine the public’s health and safety, promote social and economic development initiatives, and seek the path to Brighter Futures in our schools through collaborative campaigns..."
conducted in the spirit of Intergovernmental Relations and the District Development Model.
Providing a "helicopter view" of their achievements, Lobishe said they had managed to end uncertainty following years of frustration and desperation by non-profit social care and religious organisations seeking land.
"We applaud the Council for its transformational foresight which led it to approve the Policy Guideline for the Disposal of Land to Religious and Social Care Organizations on 12 December 2024. Our people have a
right to worship under decent conditions just as we have an obligation to enable them to deliver relief to socially distressed communities through non-profit social care platforms," the Mayor said.
She said title-deeds have also been handed to beneficiaries during this period, while a "mass identification" process has started to include backyard dwellers on the housing register.
Lobishe said the City was also working to improve road safety by introducing the digital camera and traffic contravention system, and upskilling traffic wardens to become fully-fledge traffic officers.
She said following the floods that devastated the community of Kariega, she and her team have updated the city’s disaster response plan and completed the Despatch disaster management office to serve the Kariega area.
"This is work in progress. We are far from perfection but there is commendable work that has been done both from a strategic point of view of management, risk reduction, and mitigation but also through post-disaster recovery work.
Mayor Lobishe said the City was also focusing its attention on ensuring secure and sustainable water resources under extremely challenging conditions that included aging and dilapidated infrastructure, and severe weather conditions.
She said that they had produced a water and sanitation turnaround strategy to reduce non-revenue water losses through a partnership with the Minister of Water and Sanitation’s Water Partnership Office.
"We are a government at work and there is more to come beyond this 100 Days period," Lobishe said.
