Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Executive Mayor, Cllr Nqaba Bhanga has welcomed the R500million expansion of the Boardwalk precinct in Summerstrand which will create thousands of jobs and boost one of the City’s attractive landmarks.
As part of the expansion, a new mall will be built with a total of 60 stores on offer to Bay residents and visitors. The mall is expected to be opened in September 2022.
Speaking at the launch Mayor Bhanga said: “This is half a billion rands coming into our City and I think all of us should be grateful because it is going to create opportunities for many of our people in the construction sector. We are very excited as close to 2000 jobs will be created, 1500 permanent jobs will be created following the devastation caused by COVID-19 to our ailing economy. This means a lot to us because if you have an investment like this with TNPA coming here, it means we are an investment destination as a City. This is a City of opportunities, the technologies that will be built here will modernise the outlook of our architect as the City.
“We will compete with many Cities including places like Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg because we are building new structures and lifting the outlook of our City. We want to compete with the world that is why this building is designed in a way that we can also showcase the architecture and technologies to the world.”
Eastern Cape Finance and Economic Development MEC, Mlungisi Mvoko who also attended the event commended the hotel owners saying the investment was a necessary booster for the province and NMBM.
“At the centre of this development are the job opportunities that will be created for the people of our province. We know of the 1500 construction jobs to be created and more than 1000 permanent jobs that will be created. This will give confidence to our people and families of those who will get jobs and the Small, Medium, Micro Entreprises (SMME’s) who will benefit from the value chain,” said Mvoko.