Motherwell renewal stalls

After promising start, urban programme beset by problems

IN its first eight years, then president Thabo Mbeki’s brainchild to change the face of Port Elizabeth’s biggest township worked. Millions of rands were invested, including handsome donations from the European Union.

Roads were tarred, a stadium was built and behind its success was vibrant community involvement.

But in the past five years, some community leaders say much of the activity around the Motherwell Urban Renewal Programme (Murp) appears to have fizzled out.

With no permanent department head to oversee the projects and lobby for funding, some of its biggest undertakings have stalled.

Five years since the building was completed and R46-million later, the Motherwell Thusong Service Centre has yet to open its doors.

Adjacent to the centre, millions of rands were poured into an arts and culture centre, but the project was abandoned halfway.

There has been no movement to complete the project after disagreements between the contractor and the municipality over the scope of work more than five years ago.

A hawkers’ facility for informal vendors at the Motherwell shopping centre also remains largely unused.

The project was meant to uplift the township and create employment in Motherwell.

It was one of eight pilot areas targeted by Mbeki’s presidential urban renewal programme in 2001.

Eastern Cape Sports Council president Mkhululi Magada, who is part of the SMME structures in Motherwell, said this week that when the project was launched, there was a lot of community participation in projects that were to be funded in the area.

“There was always a broad forum that used to meet on a quarterly basis. This was a platform where they would report back to the community with feedback,” Magada said.

“Everybody was represented and they sat under one roof and evaluated the projects that would come to the area.

“For reasons I don’t know, they stopped those sessions. It stopped when [former Murp head] Walter Shaidi was moved to another department [in 2011].

“Murp was doing very well previously, but somewhere along the line it stopped.”

Motherwell artist and events organiser Yahkeem Ben Israel said the arts centre was needed to nurture and develop artists.

“It’s a key development that needs to happen because we’re robbing the talent and economic activity in Motherwell.

“Motherwell is a very artistic space . . . We just need a platform,” Israel said.

Last week, councillors on the municipal public accounts committee complained of delays in getting the Thusong centre to open.

They agreed to conduct yet another site visit to the building to check on progress since their last visit a year ago.

The initial plan with the Thusong centre was to house government departments like Home Affairs, but that has since changed and it will instead be used as a learner and driving licence service centre.

The city plans to spend an additional R23.5-million on landscaping, bulk earthworks, roads, paving and stormwater infrastructure at the Thusong centre.

It will also install driver testing bays to accommodate a traffic and licensing centre.

Plans are also afoot for a municipal customer care centre at the building.

The EU has ploughed close to R100-million into urban renewal projects since 2006, with the money given to the city in tranches, according to a senior municipal insider.

Its funding, together with money from the government – almost R500-million – has paid for projects such as street lights, a business development centre, two car washes, and school renovations.

Some of the money was used to fence the Peace Park and a graveyard and to build a community hall.

Acting city manager Johann Mettler yesterday said this was proof that Murp had made a major difference in Motherwell.

“Motherwell was once characterised as a ‘no-go’ area. Today it is counted among the areas with less crime,” he said.

“In the past, South African banks characterised Motherwell as a ‘red zone’, an area hostile to investment. Today banks and other businesses are investing in Motherwell.”

He said the Thusong centre delays stemmed from insufficient EU funding.

The city had since secured additional funding from the government’s Neighbourhood Development Programme Grant to complete all the work around the centre.

Mettler said the situation was not ideal as Murp officials had not been reporting to any of the council committees.

In the interim, he said, they would report to economic development head Anele Qaba.