Department must step in and fix Bay municipality mess, business, church leaders tell premier

Continued instability and infighting have become the hallmark of the different coalition governments that have led Nelson Mandela Bay since the 2016 local elections.

This was the sentiment expressed by the city’s Civil Society Group in a letter sent to Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane on Friday highlighting its concerns about the state of the municipality.

The Civil Society Group includes the Master Builders Association (MBA), National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc), Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber (NMBBC), NM Bay Church Leader Network (NMBCLN) and the SA NGO Coalition (Sangoco).

The group is demanding that the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs intervene and invoke Section 139 of the constitution.

“The MEC for Cogta [Xolile Nqatha] should determine whether section 139(a), (b) or (c) would be appropriate for the circumstances of Nelson Mandela Bay municipality,” the collective statement read.

“It is, however, clear that there is consistent instability in council and dissolving the municipal council and bringing a competent administrator to run the city could bring calm in the Nelson Mandela Bay.

“A competent administrator would help in addressing some of the delivery challenges which have occurred as a result of the instability and poor or non-existent performance management systems within the municipality.”

Before former mayor Mongameli Bobani was ousted through a no-confidence motion during a December 5 council meeting, there were strong calls for the city to be placed under administration.

Leading to the meeting, Nqatha had taken several steps to intervene in the city, writing to Bobani and questioning why the city was crumbling.

He also questioned why council meetings were failing to sit.

The city’s political instability was also highlighted by auditor-general Kimi Makwetu during the 2018/2019 audit report in which the city received its eighth consecutive qualified audit opinion.

The group said it was the nature of political parties to wrestle for control of state power.

However, the group said, once the jostling for power affected service delivery and the socioeconomic outlook of the city, the citizens and civil society had a right to raise their concerns through constructive engagement with those in power.

“There are certain issues the group views as requiring immediate interventions and pragmatic solutions.

“They are the election of a new mayor, integrated development and the recklessness of the city manager debacle and dissolution of the Mandela Bay Development Agency,” the statement said.

Earlier in July, acting mayor Thsonono Buyeye disbanded the MBDA board, drawing criticism from the municipal public accounts division which claimed Buyeye made a unilateral decision without council approval.

The city has been without a permanent mayor since Bobani was ousted seven months ago.

The Civil Society Group also pointed out that the metro has been without a permanent city manager.

Johann Mettler, the former city manager, was suspended in September 2018 after allegations made by Bobani.

During the June 29 meeting, the council resolved to give Mettler a R2.6m golden handshake in an effort to speed up the process of appointing a new city manager.

“[The] deliberate chaos has compromised the investment environment in Nelson Mandela Bay.

“We are also concerned that some of the national infrastructure projects earmarked for this metro may be delayed or diverted to other provinces because of the absence of leadership at City Hall,” the group said.