MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Noteworthy decisions that stem from the General Council meeting held on 25 February are the following:
• Law enforcement unit expanded
The recently established directorate of community safety will be expanded. The Council noted, accepted, and supports a report motivating for additional personnel for the Traffic and Law Enforcement Department.
The Council approved the Mossel Bay Community Safety Plan in August 2020. Mossel Bay is presently the only B-Municipality where law enforcement personnel work twelve-hour shifts, covering 24 hours of a day, and this has to be maintained.
The Council approved the recruitment of additional personnel and new Learner Law Enforcement Officer positions. Budgetary provisions will be made for the cost of an additional four Law Enforcement Officers and 12 Learner Law Enforcement Officers over time.
• Regional Motorsport Venue Gets Green Light
Several erven in Mossdustria will be developed as a ringfenced area to promote further local economic development and job creation in what will become a motorsport mecca.
The area will be developed in terms of the Council's Ringfenced Property Development Policy and will consist of an industrial zone; space for future industrial development; a conservation area; a motorsport arena; an open blast zone; future motorsport business development opportunities, and with both tar and gravel roads linking the respective areas.
Once the environmental impact assessment is completed, the development will follow in phases. The erven in the industrial zone will be surveyed and subdivided at the Municipality's cost, with municipal services provided to the erven. These erven will be sold by open tender as prescribed in the Supply Chain Management Regulations and Policy. Income generated from the sale of the erven will be ringfenced, and allocated to the Capital Replacement Reserve (CRR) Fund. Following this process, the remaining erven in this phase will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis in a competitive process.
After the completion of Phase One, an item will be referred back to Council to consider the approval of Phase Two, whereafter the development of Phase Four will be dealt with in the same manner.
In Phase Two, the future industrial development erven will be sold subject to the applicable legislation and Council approval.
Phase three is to be developed simultaneously with the first two phases to facilitate the establishment of the Motorsport Venue. The ring-fenced income from the sale of erven in the other phases will be used to develop the Motorsport Mecca. The Municipality will also establish a non-profit company that will manage the Motorsport Venue. The Motorsport Mecca will likely cater for drag racing, karting, oval track racing, drifting, spinning, and gymkhana events.
The Municipality will proceed with negotiations with the relevant sporting codes to establish the Motorsport Venue. A quarterly progress report will be submitted to the Council.
The future motorsport business development erven will be sold in phase four, subject to the relevant legislation and Council approval.
A public participation process will follow and, after the completion thereof, the item will be referred back to Council for further consideration. Once completed, a full report with disclosure of the reconciled set of accounts for the development will be submitted to the Council.
• Outdoor Advertising Billboard sites approved
Council noted that no comments nor objections were received from a public participation process regarding outdoor advertising sites and spaces.
Council approved several sites where billboards may be erected, providing it complies with the municipal by-law on outdoor advertising and signage. A monthly lease amount will have to be paid per site per billboard, irrespective of whether the site is vacant or not. Also, the successful bidder will pay an amount equal to 20% of the gross income per month per individual billboard sign to the Municipality. The contract period will span a maximum of nine years and 11 months for sites that will be made available following a competitive bidding tender process.
The Municipality will erect a billboard on the sports field in Hartenbos for municipal marketing and the promotion of tourism.
• Free use of KwaNonqaba Community Hall for female youth training
The Council approved the use of the KwaNonqaba Community Hall free of charge for 12 days for the training of young females.
Isuzu South Africa, through their local agency CP Nel, evaluated and approved a proposal received from the Mossel Bay Oceans Research Foundation. The approval on a national level of the Mossel Bay project is quite a feat.
The training entails Marine Training for 60 young ladies from disadvantaged communities in the following; Marine Mammal Stranding, First Aid, Pre-sea Induction, Lifeguard qualification, and a Skippers license. The training will enable the young ladies to obtain their qualifications in Marine Conservancy Environment.
The Mossel Bay Oceans Research Foundation and CP Nel have identified the trainees and plan to start the training this week.
Council made the concession considering that the KwaNonqaba Hall is centrally located and within walking distance for most of the trainees.
Due to the COVID-19 preventative measures, the training will be done in two sessions of six days each.
• Mossel Bay sets sights on Ironman 70.3
The Council approved an application by Ironman South Africa to host Ironman 70.3, a prestigious event that attracts thousands of supporters and participants, during November 2022 and possibly for at least three years thereafter.
Contestants and supporters hail from across the globe, with a projected 8 000 to 12 000 people envisaged to visit Mossel Bay for the event and in the days leading up to the event.
Not only will the first event in November 2022 act as a qualification for contestants to participate in the World Championships, but it will squarely put Mossel Bay on the map for international athletes to compete locally.
Ironman South Africa requested the assistance and support of the Municipality that will include a cash contribution as well as support from the technical departments, such as environmental services, fire and protection services, waste management, electrical services, and the likes. Ironman SA will rely on the assistance of the Municipality's Senior Marketing and Communications Officer and the local Tourism Office.
To promote local tourism and local economic development, the Council approved a grant of R1.5m plus escalation to Mossel Bay Tourism for the proposed three years, or more, that the event will be hosted in Mossel Bay. Ironman SA will market the event.
• Investigation into the location of a main municipal office complex
Mossel Bay Municipality has offices in various buildings and locations in the municipal area. Some of the buildings are owned by the municipality, while office space in others is rented. The use of various buildings has resulted in fragmented service delivery and resulted in an investigation into the location of a main municipal office complex.
Council noted the recommendations of the study and approved the recommendation that a collaborative approach to office space is further investigated. The collaborative approach will entail, inter alia, that certain officials will be allowed to work from home. Therefore, a policy on working from home will be developed and presented to Council for consideration. This approach will be the most cost-effective. The proposed upgrading of the Main Municipal Building will take place over three financial years and will likely be completed by June 2024.
Opposition
The ACDP in a press release, commented on some of the items that served on the agenda at the Council meeting.
• Expansion of Law Enforcement
ACDP welcomes the appointment of more law enforcement officers in our town. We are aware of the severe pressure under which our enforcement officers have been working. The shortage of officers has also place pressure on the provision of services despite our law enforcement officers best attempts. The ACDP believes this will bring some relief to our officers as they diligently serve the community of Mossel Bay.
• Appointment of MPAC Chairperson
The ACDP has on several occasions disputed the legitimacy of the MPAC committee. The committee is comprised of only DA and ANC members and none of the other opposition councillors are represented on this crucial committee and it`s very important role of oversight. This is in contravention of the constitution which states that all parties represented in council should be represented on the MPAC committee.
• Fraud and Risk Management Charter
The ACDP proposed that a member not in the employ of the municipality be appointed to the Fraud and Risk Committee. This is the past has been considered best practise. Unfortunately the DA and the ANC voted against this proposal thereby diluting the credibility, transparency and accountability of the committee.
• Renting of outdoor space
The ACDP calls on other opposition parties to be vigilang on how ratepayers' and residents' money is being spent.
The economic contraction and the impact thereof on ratepayers must be considered when determining how money is spent. The ACDP councillor in Mossel Bay has strongly objected to a council decision in which R400 000 of resident`s money will be used to advertise the Mossel Bay Municipality AND tourism related businesses on a billboard along the Louis Fourie Road.
Political representatives should exercise stringent controls in municipal expenditure during this time particularly considering the Cost Containment Policy that was accepted by this municipality in an effort to cut costs and even more particularly since the economy has taken a major downturn due to the national lockdown and the subsequent effect on all resident`s income.
The Mossel Bay Tourism Bureau is already the beneficiary of funds from this municipality. These funds are to be used with the express purpose of marketing the town. Directors of the board include the municipal manager and several DA councilllors thus the municipality has a direct say in the application of these funds.
There are other future expenses which should be considered and further financial pressures that will inevitably follow as the economy shrinks negatively. Already the effect of the lockdown can be seen in town as businesses have closed and a humanitarian food crisis develops. Spending on non-essential items can be considered wasteful in light of the other budget items covering marketing.
• The Female Marine Training Program
The ACDP notes the worthy initiative of CP Nel and Oceans Research and wishes to thank them for their interest in upskilling our community and their practical demonstration of such interest. The ACDP is however disappointed that the program discriminates against the young men in our community who are also desperate for opportunities that will make them more employable in our town. Such discrimination is prohibited by the constitution in section 9 part 3 which prohibits a person being discriminated against on grounds of their gender. While the ACDP welcomes this initiative it is most unfortunate that only woman will benefit from it.
• Irregular Expenditure
The ACDP did not condone the irregular expenditure in excess of 50 million rand, as identified by the Auditor General. This expenditure was incurred despite repeated warnings that the terms of the Provincial Procurement Regulations were not being met in the awarding of contracts that exceeded a value of 30 million rand.
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