Today, 9 March 2020, DA Eastern Cape Provincial Leader, Nqaba Bhanga, was officially sworn in as a member of the Nelson Mandela Bay council and officially rejoined the Democratic Alliance’s Nelson Mandela Bay caucus to stand as the mayoral candidate on Thursday.
He has taken up the Proportional Representative position, formerly held by Kobus Botha, who has since returned to serve as a Member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature.
Cllr Bhanga believes that Nelson Mandela Bay, the city of his birth, is in crisis and requires urgent intervention. It needs men and women who can change this situation for the better.
As part of his pledge of office, Cllr Bhanga has sworn to serve the people of Nelson Mandela Bay.
In the past, during our tenure as part of a coalition government, the DA has proven our commitment to serving the people. After taking over in 2016, we were able to turn a broken Nelson Mandela Bay around and save it from collapse.
Some of the successes achieved during the two years that the DA was part of the governing coalition government include:
• NMB went from being in the red to having a R2 billion surplus, receiving a AAA credit rating;
• The City established a new metro police service;
• We stopped R615-million of corrupt contracts;
• The City achieved the best Urban Settlement Development Grants spending in the country;
• We instituted Shot-spotter technology to help curb gang violence;
• Almost 10 000 bucket toilets were eradicated; and
• We put the IPTS buses on the road for the first time.
This would not have been possible had the DA not formed a coalition government and worked with the other parties who, at their core, wanted to put the people of Nelson Mandela Bay first and ensure that they received the services to which they are entitled.
Thursday’s council meeting could once again be a critical turning point for the City and we continue to engage with all political parties who would like to see the City returned to a path of prosperity, based on the values of doing what is best for the people of Nelson Mandela Bay.