The Sister City relationship between Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and the City of  Jacksonville, Florida, USA continues to gain strength following the devastating economic  and social effects of COVID-19. 

This was confirmed by the current working visit by the leadership of Jacksonville to Nelson  Mandela Bay Municipality which focused on boosting the local creative economy, foreign  investment and events management sectors. 

During a jovial event on Friday, 22 April 2022, during which the two Cities exchanged books  at the City’s historic Main Library, Sports Recreation, Arts and Culture, Mayoral Committee  Member Cllr Bassie Kamana said that, through the partnership, the NMBM would continue  

to send NMBM and Eastern Cape artists and their work to Florida to develop them and  market their work. 

“Through this relationship, we have had the enriching sharing of knowledge, experiences  and resources in the areas of capturing and preparation of oral history for archival purposes  and digitisation. We have implemented the digitisation of special collections for both the  Main Library and the Red Location Digital library and archives, as well as community  projects, such as Gelvandale craft and our children’s library programmes.” 

“We wish that the relationship will continue to erase the frontiers of ignorance and vanity in  favour of building knowledgeable, responsible and culturally literate populations between  the two Cities as we promote people-to-people diplomacy,” MMC Kamana said. 

The NMBM exchanged 37 books with the City of Jacksonville, comprising local and other  South African authors. 

The Vice-President of the Nelson Mandela Bay Committee: Jacksonville Sister Cities  Association, Felice Franklin, said that following the visit to NMB, plans were in place to  expand the exchange of art works between the two Cities to give artists a much needed  financial boost and international exposure.

“Sister Cities is a relationship between two Mayors, through which we are promoting peace, one  community at a time, one person at a time. We had the opportunity to meet with the Mayor and  her executive staff to share some of the things about Nelson Mandela Bay so that we will be  better informed about how government operates here. 

“The things of the future are endless; we had an opportunity to meet with the Eastern Cape  Development Corporation and with artisans in East London. We are looking at having some of  the artisans works sold in various locations within Jacksonville, so that is a great opportunity for  the Municipality and the ECDC, but most importantly for those men and women who are making  their crafts to have an opportunity to have an increased income to improve their lives. It is  important to improve the lives of people here and also to enhance and improve the lives of  people in Jacksonville,” said Franklin. 

During their visit, the delegation also met with the NMB Business Chamber and will be leaving  on Monday, 25 April 2022. 

Ends. 

Issued on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality by Communications and Media  Management Officer, Mamela Ndamase. For more information contact 0760254692 or  mndamase@mandelametro.gov.za.