New MBDA board hits the ground running
On Thursday, 1 December, the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) Board, which was announced by the city on 16 November, wasted no time in rolling up their sleeves and getting to work. High on the agenda of the new board is to provide much-needed stability and the necessary leadership for the entity to navigate itself back to a high-performance service delivery agency of the city.
The new board of five members includes Mxolisi Moolman, who is an active legal practitioner with Legal Aid South Africa; Kwezi Ntshanyana, an educator and former NMBM MPAC Chairperson; Pinky Kondlo, a development practitioner and director at internationally renowned Wilderness Foundation Africa; Vuyani Dyantyi, a former educator and councillor of the Metro, now involved in community development work; and as Board Chairperson is businesswoman and former chairperson of the Black Management Forum, Glenda Perumal.
A series of consultations began on Monday, 28 November, with the Chairperson receiving a briefing from the Acting CEO, Mpho Mokonyama and Company Secretary, Mbulelo Matiwane, then on Tuesday the full board met the entire management team for a detailed state of the agency report.
To conclude a successful week of engagements, the board met to process several key items, which included receiving an update on the MBDA CEO recruitment drive, reviewing and approving various policies, and importantly, the extension of the acting tenure of the caretaker CEO, Mokonyama.
The board is pleased with the initial reports from management, especially the work covered over the past six months. Management didn’t sit and fold their arms, they got to work, implementing the newly adopted annual business plan with vigour, as well as planning for the next five years. Early performance reports for quarter one (July – September) indicate a 93% performance score against key performance indicators (KPIs). Of the 14 KPIs, the agency has overachieved 9/14, achieved 4/14 and only one not achieved.
Such performance is complemented by the improvement in budget performance for Q1, currently between 35%-37% vs 41% of the period covered. If the entity stays the course, KPI and budget performance for 2022/23 will be one of the highest ever attained.
In pursuing transformation goals, the entity continues to support local and national broad-based black economic empowerment without compromising service delivery standards. To date (July – September), the entity has transacted over R10.5 million in expenditure with entities that possess B-BBEE levels 1-3, with 99% spent with companies in level 1-3.
In addition, the board welcomed a report on the progress made to date with the new strategic plan (five-year plan) that comes into effect in July 2023 to June 2028. The board resolved to arrange a special sitting with the shareholder, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s Mayoral Committee, to discuss the proposed five-year plan, a product which is a result of collaboration between the entity’s management and the Executive Managers of the NMBM led by the Acting COO.
The board is confident that the agency is on good footing to make gains in the future and that this momentum will only increase with the appointment of a permanent CEO during the first half of 2023.