Smart city concept must become a reality, premier tells Godongwana

“I want that smart city.”

That was premier Oscar Mabuyane’s message to finance minister Enoch Godongwana when he addressed senior provincial and national government officials at the Eastern Cape government’s year-end function hosted at the East London ICC on Wednesday night.

Mayors and municipal managers also attended the function.

Mabuyane said the province had approached the national government a few years ago to undertake a smart city project in Port St Johns or Coffee Bay in Mqanduli.

“Minister, instead of heeding to our request for approval, you [the national government] went to develop the Eastern Seaboard [Development Initiative],” he said.

“I still want the smart city in Port St Johns the same way we requested as the provincial government.

“We lobbied the national government for a smart city in Port St Johns.

“The area is known by everyone, locally and globally, as a very attractive area.

“It is a gem with low-hanging fruit.”

Mabuyane said the people loved Port St Johns.

“We wanted to capitalise on that and turn it into a smart city.

“It was unfortunate that the concept of a smart city in Port St Johns was broadened to something [the Eastern Seaboard Development Initiative] that made us lose focus.

“There is nothing wrong with the Eastern Seaboard with all its ambitious ideas, but it has made us want to be all over the show.

“The Eastern Cape government believes the smart city concept should have started in Port St Johns or Coffee Bay,” the premier said, adding they were still going to put pressure on the national government to heed their request.

The Eastern Seaboard Development is an initiative of the national government to “unlock the economic potential” of the OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo district municipalities in the Eastern Cape and the Ugu and Harry Gwala districts in KwaZulu-Natal.

The initiative, still at an early stage, is set to develop a 250km coastal stretch from Coffee Bay to Scottburgh in KwaZulu-Natal through culture and heritage, socioeconomic activities, and agriculture and environmental sustainability.

Port St Johns mayor Nomvuzo Mlombile-Cingo said the smart city concept had started in about 2010.

“Whenever I address the community of Port St Johns, I always tell them that we are in an area destined to be a smart city,” she said.

“I believe in speaking the word so that things happen, but it does not end there ... we are working very hard to make sure our dream of being a smart city is realised.”

Godongwana said the development of infrastructure in the Eastern Cape needed to be done with speed.

He said the state of roads in the province needed an intervention.

“Roads have an impact on everything, including tourism.”

He said investors could be attracted to an area only where there was good infrastructure.

Coastal areas in the province had a great potential to boost the economy if they were developed.

“I am discussing with the premier what is called pledging so that we use the grants that they are earmarked to receive in the next few years to build the roads now,” he said.

Mabuyane said the provincial government was working towards diversifying the economy “out of the over-reliance we have been having over the last six decades on the auto sector”.

“The level of hard work that we are doing is huge.

“But if we don’t address the electricity issue it is going to kill all our efforts,” he said.

“The management [of Mercedes-Benz in Germany] said it has been growing its East London plant in a city that is not developing.

“I want mayors to market their cities and talk about the local economy.

“We are not going to change the socioeconomic outlook of our province if we don’t make an effort.”