Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality

Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality governs Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), Kariega (formerly Uitenhage) and Despatch, together with their surrounding farmland, on the shores of Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape. The metro covers 1 959 square kilometres and is one of two metropolitan municipalities in the province.

Registered name

Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality

Type

Local government (metropolitan municipality)

Fields funded

Scarce and critical municipal skills, such as engineering, computer science and finance

Website

nelsonmandelabay.gov.za

Named after Madiba

The municipality carries Nelson Mandela’s name because Madiba was born and spent his formative years in the Eastern Cape. Nelson Mandela Bay lies midway between Cape Town and Durban, 1 058 kilometres from Johannesburg.

A port, an airport and a motor industry

Nelson Mandela Bay describes itself as the hub of Africa’s automotive industry, home to major international vehicle and component manufacturers. The metro’s Port of Ngqura is, according to the municipality, the most modern deep-water port in the Southern Hemisphere, and Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport is the Eastern Cape’s only international air access point. Local factories also produce pharmaceuticals, food products, paper and leather goods.

Services under pressure

Nelson Mandela Bay also carries heavy social needs. The municipality’s own profile, drawing on 2016 and 2017 figures, estimated a population of about 1.26 million in 368 518 households, with nearly half of residents living in poverty. The municipality’s Assistance to the Poor programme provides free basic services to qualifying low-income households.

The municipality’s notices show the daily work of keeping services running, from a planned shutdown for transformer earthing and isolator maintenance at Swartkops Substation on 20 September 2026 to unplanned outages caused by suspected vandalism.

What we know about the bursary

Nelson Mandela Bay offers bursaries to residents pursuing qualifications relevant to municipal governance and service delivery, according to a provider record checked in August 2026. BursariesAfrica’s older guide describes a bursary for unemployed residents of Gqeberha, Kariega and Despatch under 30, with at least a 60% average, in fields LGSETA identifies as scarce and critical, such as electrical and civil engineering, computer science and development finance. That guide has not been refreshed with verified 2027 dates.

How residents can verify the bursary

Check the vacancies and notices on the municipality’s official website, and contact the municipality’s skills development or human resources section to ask whether a 2027 round will run and which fields it will fund. Engineering students should explain how their field relates to challenges such as electricity outages, water losses or infrastructure vandalism.

See our Eastern Cape Government Bursaries and the LGSETA bursary.