Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is one of eight metropolitan municipalities in South Africa. It is located on the shores of Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape province, and comprises the city of Port Elizabeth, the nearby towns of Uitenhage and Despatch, and the surrounding rural area. Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has a population of approximately 1.1 million.
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) has substantially improved its approach to spatial planning (as reflected in its latest BEPP) and its focus on preparing catalytic projects for implementation. Beyond this, CSIP that is currently being implemented at the city involves five major interventions (a) an organisational development and change management support programme, intended to formalise the organisational structure, and build more effective management teams in city departments; (b) financial planning support, focussed on building a coherent long-term financial model; (c) development planning support, to assist in the development of a long term city strategy; (d) a facilitation process intended to help establish productive relationships between NMBM and the major industry stakeholders; and (e) support to assist the city to rethink its approach to housing markets and housing delivery.
The main areas of cooperation are the key catalytic projects that have been identified within Nelson Mandela Bay, to turn the economy of the NMBM around. These include:
- The Port/marina precinct
- The Baakens River Precinct / Waterfront development
- The Red Location Cultural Precinct
- The Happy Valley Precinct
- The Bayworld aquarium project.