Eastern Cape Business 2023-24

Celebrating 20 years
of urban regeneration
and clean audits
The Mandela Bay Development Agency, a change agent
of the Bay, plans long-term stadium development.
The Mandela Bay Development Agency, an entity of the Nelson
Mandela Bay Municipality established in 2003 to reverse urban
decay of the Port Elizabeth inner city through urban renewal,
celebrates 20 years of its existence in 2023.
Some of the successes of the MBDA include pioneering the
regeneration of urban nodes such as Kings Beach, Helenvale,
the Kariega CBD and a significant part of the Gqeberha inner
city. Other achievements include a R40-millon project in New
Brighton which saw the transformation of Singaphi Street.
The MBDA has only ever received successive unqualified and
clean audit outcomes from the Auditor General of South Africa.
In 2016, Council, on separate occasions resolved to hand
over the management and operations of the Nelson Mandela Bay
Science and Technology Centre to the MBDA and subsequently
resolved to also hand over the management of the Nelson
Mandela Bay Stadium to the MBDA effective 1 January 2017,
initially for a period of three years, and this has subsequently been
extended to July 2023.
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium promotes major sports,
entertainment and recreational activities. The purpose of the
Agency is also to stimulate social support to the communities
and the province at large. The MBDA has done extremely well in
achieving both focuses. This has created a heavy dent in the entity’s
finances but the outlook is hopeful that it is just a matter of time
before positive results are seen in bank statements.
The issue around the staff contracts is still one of the high risks
faced by the business. However, this does not discourage the team
from continuing with the promotion and marketing of the asset.
The cost of sales is growing and it is affecting budgeting and
the overall bottom line. Most of the hosted events and shows are
funded mainly or partly by the Agency. The number of requests
for funding by the communities has increased. The number of
requests for the venue for free has increased, all of which impacts
on the bottom line. Investments have continued in advancing
the asset and transforming it from the old ways of doing
things to the modern and digital ways of doing things. Digital
transformation is going to be a key focus in operations and the
amendment of the product mix. This also meant relooking at the
strategy of the business for the future, policies and procedure.
It is vital to remain relevant and challenge for new markets
that were previously not appealed to. Work on this new
approach began during the previous financial year.
NMB Stadium Museum launch
The NMB Stadium Museum launch was a one-and-a-half-year
journey which started with collecting memorabilia, historic
sporting infrastructure used throughout the existence of
the stadium and video clips of great NMB Stadium sporting
moments. Approximately R1.5-million was spent in conducting
this project which is stadium-owned and managed. The
launch day was a resounding success, being well attended by
dignitaries and stadium representatives.