Elect new mayor and city boss, or else - Nqatha

The Nelson Mandela Bay council must elect a new mayor, replace Mvuleni Mapu as acting city manager, or the Eastern Cape government will push for the council to be dissolved..

This is according to Cogta MEC Xolile Nqatha, who said they had  reached a point of no return.

Nqatha said he would approach the province’s executive council to request that the metro council be dissolved.  

However, he said this would depend on the council’s response to his letter giving acting mayor Thsonono Buyeye seven days to explain why he should not place the city under administration.

The letter was sent on Tuesday.

In a statement on Friday, Nqatha said the metro had been without a mayor for seven months, something he said was not in the interest of good governance.

Nqatha said he intended to recommend to the provincial executive committee that Section 139 (1) of the constitution be invoked, which would see the city placed under administration.

“My thinking is that we’re at a point of no return and it’s either they co-operate and stabilise the situation or I forge ahead with seeking approval from the executive council.

“I had received a letter from Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on the situation in the metro. I then wrote to the city demanding a report and all I received was a confirmation of receipt of e-mail and they didn’t comply,” Nqatha said.

Pressed on which part of the 139 (1) clause he was referring to, Nqatha told Weekend Post : “It is my intention to approach the provincial cabinet for section 139 (1)(c)”.

This deals with the dissolving of the council and appointing an administrator to run the municipality until a fresh municipal election is held within three months.

Buyeye has been acting mayor since UDM councillor Mongameli Bobani was ousted through a no-confidence motion during a council meeting on December 5, 2019..

Nqatha said legal provisions for the municipal council to elect an acting mayor were not designed to be perpetual.

On the appointment of Mapu as acting city manager, Nqatha said: .“[He] is unqualified to act as a municipal manager because currently he occupies a position that is below that of managers who are accountable directly to [him].” he said.

The decision to appoint Mapu was endorsed during a June 29 virtual council meeting, with 31 councillors - a majority at that sitting - voting in favour of his appointment.

On November 7, 2018 Nqatha issued the metro with a Section 139 (1)(a) notice, giving it 90 days to fill critical vacancies, failing which he would institute Section 139 (1)(b) and send an administrator to run the administration, but with the council fulfilling its function.

Asked why this had not happened, Nqatha said:   “Some of the issues were complied with, including changing previous acting city manager Nobuntu Mgogoshe.

“When Noxolo Nqwazi was appointed acting city manager, there was a level of co-operation and understanding and a good working relationship between the metro and province.

“Now, we seem to be back to square one,” Nqatha said.

Buyeye confirmed receiving the letter on Tuesday and stressed the fact that the city was not under administration at present.

“Nor does council of the city need to sit in the next seven days to vote on this issue.

­“In terms of section 139 (1), the municipality merely needs to respond to the concerns raised by the MEC within seven days. We duly intend to comply.”

DA caucus leader councillor Nqaba Bhanga wrote to speaker Buyelwa Mafaya on Friday, calling on her to hold an emergency council meeting by Tuesday to discuss Nqatha's letter.

EFF regional chair Amandlangawethu Madaka said they would never allow “ANC crooks” from the province to take over the municipality.

The Bay is run by a coalition government comprising the ANC, AIC, Patriotic Alliance, UDM and United Front. The govern, at times, with the help of the EFF.

Cope councillor Siyasanga Sijadu said she supported Nqatha’s decision but  United Front regional chair Xolisile Peter labelled Nqatha as “weak and corrupt”.

"This is a political statement being made by Nqatha against Mapu because he's fighting old SACP battles he lost using state resources against Mapu," Peter said.

ANC regional spokesperson JP Pretorius said what was clear was the institution was engaged on a "deliberate degenerative" path.

"The ANC through the provincial executive committee pronounced itself on the matter of the city manager and today the letters of both National Treasury and Cogta vindicate and affirm the wisdom of the directive of the ANC in relation to the city manager matter," Pretorius said.

ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom said there appeared to be a misunderstanding of the term "interim".

"Appoint a suitably qualified acting city manager, and appoint a full time executive mayor. Clean up the political and administrative arms and restore good governance and control procedures," Grootboom said.

DA provincial chair Andrew Whitfield said the party would be convening a meeting with the DA’s head of the governance unit James Selfe which would be followed by an announcement.