The Abantu Integrity Movement has vowed to take a hard line on corruption and poor governance in Nelson Mandela Bay, promising voters it will use its political leverage to hold larger coalition partners accountable if it wins enough seats in the November elections.
AIM leader Khusta Jack made the pledge on Monday at the unveiling of the party’s strategic plan to “rescue, reboot and develop the distressed” city at the Town Lodge Conference Centre in Summerstrand.
Jack said a team of technocrats had been brought on board to ensure that their expertise drove the plan to improve the functioning of the metro.
“The plan is going to ensure what we stand for. We have learnt a lot from previous coalitions,” he said.
“This road [map] will save the Bay from total collapse.
“We are only asking for this big mandate from voters to ensure that nothing moves in council without the support of AIM,” Jack said.
Ambitiously, AIM is targeting between 10 to 26 seats in council.
The party currently has a single seat.
Detailing the plan, AIM leader of governance Mod Ndoyana, who is the party’s local governance development specialist, said they would advocate to transform the metro to be financially stable and end political instability.
Ndoyana previously worked as the metro’s corporate services boss before he was fired in 2016.
Ndoyana said their work would be anchored in five interdependent strategic pillars, which included institutional transformation and development, financial sustainability and viability, service delivery excellence, local economic development and job creation, and good governance and accountability.
“AIM seeks to prioritise the restoration of the metro’s financial health, strengthen revenue collection, improve cash flow management and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability by ensuring that revenue collection exceeds 90%.”
Ndoyana said the party wanted to maintain strong liquidity and cash-backed reserves and reduce borrowing dependency.
The party, he said, would support the positioning of the Bay as a competitive investment, manufacturing, tourism and logistics hub while ensuring inclusive economic participation.
“This can only be achieved by ensuring that there is certainty, efficiency, transparency and responsive government institutions as potential investors are reluctant to invest in unstable business environments.”
Ndoyana said the focus would be advocating for the establishment of a one-stop investment centre, which had long been a talking point within metro leadership circles, which would act as a single point of entry in the Bay.
This would reduce red tape and accelerate development approvals in relation to business licensing, building plan approvals, land-use applications and infrastructure connection approvals and rates clearance.
He said the plan was underpinned by a number of priorities, which included revenue enhancement to modernise water and electricity metering systems to improve billing accuracy and customer account management.
“There is also a need to strengthen debt collection and recovery and to enhance and prioritise collection of residential, business and government debt.
“Review debt collection management policies to ensure the arrear debt amount of R22bn owed to the municipality [is collected].”
Ndoyana said disciplinary action would have to be instituted for financial misconduct and the metro needed to adopt a zero-tolerance approach.
It must also speedily resolve the protracted suspension of city manager Noxolo Nqwazi and rescind the macro-organisational structure approved in 2024.
Ndoyana said the party would be the voice of small and big businesses in the Bay.
Part of this work would include fast-tracking large-scale catalytic projects that had the potential to stimulate investment, create jobs and transform the economic landscape of the metro.
Developments such as the international convention centre (ICC), Bayworld, the waterfront, aerotropolis and logistics hub, desalination plant and energy generation plants (solar, gas and wind) were required.
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