MBDA boss quits

It’s time for someone younger and with more energy to take over, says Voges

Just nine months after locking horns with officials over the expiry of his contract – and getting it extended – Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) boss Pierre Voges has resigned.

Voges – who has been credited as the driving force behind a slew of successful urban renewal projects over more than a decade – has been on a month-to-month contract after his contract ended in March.

He had fought to keep his R1.8-million-a-year job amid a power struggle between the agency’s board and the municipality.

At the time, he said in a letter to then-mayor Danny Jordaan that labour lawyers had advised him that not renewing his contract would amount to unfair dismissal.

While the municipality had wanted his contract renewed until after the local government elections in August, the board initially wanted the job advertised, but decided later to renew it month to month. A new board was installed in July. Voges, who is on holiday in Cape Town with his two daughters, said yesterday he would finish up at the MBDA at the end of next month.

“I decided it is time for me to leave,” he said. “We have a good board with solid structures in place [for the MBDA] to move forward.

“There is very good staff to steer the ship.

“I feel that I have built up a one-of-a-kind business [the MBDA] in South Africa and it is something I am proud of. It is a great legacy to leave behind.

“There is a time to go and enable more experienced people to take the company to an even higher level.

“In two years, people will not even know who Pierre Voges is.”

Asked why he was resigning, Voges said: “It’s time for someone younger and with more energy to take over.”

Voges said there was “a new, good, committed local government and board in place. Both are keen to make the city competitive”.

He highlighted the MBDA’s recent fifth clean audit in a row, a record unknown for a municipal organisation in the country.

“And that is moving in a nimble way in a difficult procurement environment,” he said.

“There is a good budget in place [and] any city in the world would be very happy having an MBDA.

“It is now a locally, nationally and internationally known municipal urban renewal company. It is not about me.

“I was only as good as the great people around me.”

He plans to stay in the Bay and explore his options, leaning towards his passion – urban renewal.

“No matter what I do next, the city will be my base. It is a hidden gem and I love the city and lifestyle.”

Mayor Athol Trollip commended Voges.

“I think Voges did very good work for the MBDA as well as Nelson Mandela Bay and he has left a legacy,” Trollip said.

“I want to wish him well on whatever venture he is going to embark on now. I want to thank him.”

Trollip said a replacement would be found for Voges.

“In successful institutions and organisations, what defines them is that nobody is indispensable,” he said.

“The MBDA is made up of a board and there are a number of competent people in there, and I am sure we will find somebody to replace Voges and fill his shoes and take the MBDA to new heights.”

Deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani said: “I am really shocked by the news but we will wait for the board to give us a full report on what happened.”

Agency board member Marsala Odayar said he had not heard of Voges’s resignation as he had been on leave.

“I am aware that in the last meeting there were serious discussions about his position being under review,” Odayar said.

“His contract was on a monthto-month [basis] and we were discussing that we cannot have a chief executive who is on a lingering month-to-month [contract].

“I don’t know what decision was taken after that.”

Voges became the driving force behind the MBDA’s megamillionrand projects such as the upgrade of the Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage city centres, the iconic Tramways building and Kings Beach, and turning Richmond Hill into a thriving restaurant hub.

The MBDA will be driving some of the metro’s biggest economic undertakings over the next five to 10 years.

Voges’s resignation comes just a few months after it was decided by the city’s political leadership that the MBDA would now manage the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

Access Management’s contract to run the stadium ends this week.

Voges said he would let the mayor and board chairman address issues moving forward.

MBDA spokesman Luvuyo Bangazi said: “The MBDA is not in a position to offer any comment on this matter at this stage.