Lifestyle Conference launches Route 67
05 September 2011
The three-day event will provide a platform for the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) to be able to launch Route 67 during the conference weekend. The conference will also present an opportunity for the MBDA to be able to highlight past and present projects, together with its vision for future development projects for Nelson Mandela Bay.
Most importantly, the conference will provide an opportunity for MBDA to be able to attract much needed businesses and investors to the Nelson Mandela Bay CBD, townships, North End precinct and the Telkom Park Land area.
“We have managed to secure good speakers for the conference (Friday, 23 September) such as Professor Nick Binedell who will be shedding light about the role of cities in making regions grow. Achmat Dangor of the Nelson Mandela Foundation will be speaking about Arts, Crafts & Culture as an economically viable sector, Transnet CEO, Brian Molefe will talk about the role of Transnet on City development with a special focus on Nelson Mandela Bay,” said the MBDA CEO, Pierre Voges.
“Donne Putter of the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBSA) will address us about Tourism and Greening, in particular, reduction of our carbon footprint. All of these topics will assist the city in our development and will open our minds as we explore Local Economic Development opportunities in Nelson Mandela Bay.
“Our target audience for the conference will be the construction and property development industry, together with political and business leaders in the Metro,” he added.
The second day of the conference will include the official launch of Route 67 on Saturday 24 September. The aim of the route is to turn the Donkin Reserve into a tourist attraction with a focus on art, culture and heritage – a place where people could celebrate their diverse cultures. It is widely recognised that former President Nelson Mandela – after whom the city is named – should be the central figure for the entire development concept. This is supported by the concept of Route 67, which celebrates the 67 years he dedicated to politics.
The longer-term goal is to take the concept of “Route 67” beyond Nelson Mandela Bay to the rest of South Africa and further afield. The journey from the Campanile up Jetty Street across Vuyisile Mnini Square up St Mary’s Terrace to the Donkin Reserve will be marked by 67 piece of artwork many of them by local emerging artists. The top half of the route is all but complete.
“Not all the art works will be on Route 67. A few have been incorporated into the Red Location Museum project to link to the iconic township museum and one work will also be exhibited at South End Museum” said Voges.
The recently renovated Athenaeum Club building is also part of the development, providing an undercover area and unifying structure for art and culture. As a prelude to the conference and launch of Route 67, the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA,) will be bussing in over 3 000 high school pupils from all areas of Nelson Mandela Bay. The scholars will form a line on the route and place their ‘X’ with their name and surname so as to recreate the voting line of the 1994 elections. We will also use this opportunity to expose the learners to the route and the art pieces in an effort to educate them about South Africa’s struggle history and Eastern Cape heritage.
The third and last day of the Lifestyle Conference will include the Nelson Mandela Bay Urban Run. “This exciting first for the city will see participants taking on a challenging, yet fun, 12km urban obstacle trail run through the historic parts of the CBD and will include numerous urban obstacles like scaling the walls of Fort Frederick, cable walking across the Baakens River and negotiating the steep St Augustine’s stairs,” said event organiser, Michael Zoetmulder of Zports Event Management.
The Urban Run is supported by the Mandela Bay Development Agency to highlight the success of the agency’s urban renewal program.
To date, the MBDA – established in 2003 by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality – has spent roughly R250-million in investing in the municipal infrastructure in the CBD’s of both Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage.
“The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality remains committed to growing the tourism industry of our city, the economy and the creation of jobs in our bid to address serious issues of poverty in our region. It gives me great pleasure to see the plans of the city coming to life through our municipally funded entity, the MBDA,” said NMBM executive mayor, Zanoxolo Wayile.
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