As Nelson Mandela Bay prepares to welcome delegates for the G20 Employment Working Group (EWG) meetings, the municipality is pulling out all the stops to present a picture-perfect city.
Between February 18 and 21, experts from leading global institutions — including the International Labour Organisation, International Social Security Association, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Bank — and their SA counterparts will convene to discuss two pressing issues: youth transitions to decent work and the impact of digitalisation on social security.
“We can’t embarrass ourselves as a city,” the Bay municipality’s economic development acting executive director, Wandisile Makwabe, candidly told this newspaper.
With that in mind, the municipality sprang into action — fixing broken street lights, patching potholes and sprucing up beaches.
A joint operating committee, comprising local and national police along with the Metro Police, has also been established to ensure security and smooth operations.
For residents, this flurry of activity is both welcome and frustrating.
On the one hand, long-awaited service improvements are finally happening.
On the other, it raises an obvious and uncomfortable question: If the city can mobilise so efficiently for international guests, why isn’t this the standard practice year-round?
That is a question city officials and councillors must answer.
The year ahead will be a significant one for Nelson Mandela Bay, with major events such as the Naacam Show on the horizon.
The municipality must go all out to ensure these gatherings are successful, but it should not do so at the expense of the areas visitors will not see — those areas must not be neglected.
The metro remains in a dire state — filthy streets, neglected infrastructure and pothole-ridden roads still define too many neighbourhoods.
These problems must not be neglected once the last G20 delegate departs.
A truly world-class city does not clean up only when the world is watching.
The Herald
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