The Council for the Built Environment (CBE) CEO, Dr Msizi Myeza and the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) CEO, Mr Ntandazo Vimba together with their executive management teams met on 21 February 2023 to devise an implementation plan aimed at capacitating and improving service delivering municipalities.

The said meeting resolved to concretise the strategic partnerships and a programme of action through a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA). As part of ensuring accountability, parties agree to conclude a Memorandum of Agreement which will be supported by an implementation plan. The said implementation plan will also be shared with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) as a key stakeholder in the local government space.

Furthermore, CBE – MISA collaboration will serve as a platform for knowledge exchange and mutual learning as it relates to structured candidacy, mentorship programme, professional registration, placement of unemployed youth graduates in various municipalities, maximize resource utilisation and expand the scope of technical capacity building initiatives in the built environment.

The collaborating parties will urgently work together on a structured candidacy and mentorship programme for local government, which will go beyond technical skills but focus on compliance, financial management components as prescribed in Municipal Financial Management Act (MFMA).

These interventions will also contribute to the transformation of the built environment by placing emphasis on the integrated infrastructure value chain which include project identification, financing, procurement, asset management and execution.

The CBE and MISA also agreed to join hands in supporting the Walter Sisulu University (WSU) and the Eastern Cape Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (ECDPWI) in reimagining and establishing the Built Environment and Engineering Faculty of the future, which will offer all the related courses with the professional councils. This is aimed at repositioning WSU as a university of choice for young people who want to pursue a career in the built environment and support the development of the new city in the Eastern Seaboard. MISA also committed in continuing to offer bursaries to students as part of its contribution to the skill revolution.