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COGTA Minister Asked to Urgently Intervene in Nelson Mandela Bay

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Dear MyPE

The systemic collapse of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality under Executive Mayor, Cllr Mongameli Bobani, and the ANC/EFF/UDM coalition of corruption, has forced the DA to call on the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Dr Zweli Mkhize, to urgently intervene.

The DA has requested that the Minister consider deploying the necessary support to the Municipality, in line with section 154 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa:

  • 154. (1) The national government and provincial governments, by legislative and other measures, must support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to manage their own affairs, to exercise their powers and to perform their functions.

It is our opinion that invoking section 154 will bring some form of stability to NMBMM and provide COGTA with much needed insight into the current dysfunctional administration of the Metro.

We believe that, should the Minister fail to intervene, the Metro’s already fragile administration will inevitably collapse.

Under Mayor Bobani, and his coalition of corruption, the Metro has seen a massive decline in its financial stability and its ability to deliver basic services. The Metro is also riddled with corruption and acts of criminality.

It is a well-known fact that Mayor Bobani is currently being investigated by the Hawks amidst allegations of corruption regarding the Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS). It is becoming more and more apparent that he is now using his power to halt any investigations into his alleged criminal activities.

His witch hunt against former City Manager Johann Mettler, who was suspended by the Bobani administration for investigating irregularities, is a clear case of abuse of power in an effort to avoid prosecution.

At council meetings on the 28th of February 2019 and the 4th of April 2019 (which was postponed to 9 April 2019), Cllr Bobani misled council in order to push through a resolution that the cases handled by the Municipality’s attorney, Gray Moodliar, be withdrawn.

Among others, Gray Moodliar had been mandated to conduct disciplinary enquiries and instituting civil claims against NMB officials and service providers implicated in IPTS irregularities. These officials and service providers were identified in the Deloitte/National Treasury report of August 2015.

The resolution was adopted by Council on 9 April 2019. At no stage did Cllr Bobani disclose his potential conflict of interest in respect of the termination of the Gray Moodliar mandate.

Acting City Manager, Peter Nielson, then contacted Gray Moodliar, and informed them that all the mandates given to the firm in legal matters are withdrawn.

The DA is aware that one of the cases that Cllr Bobani doesn’t want to reach court is the investigation into two companies, Heerkos and Le Roux Inc, which collected more than R25 million from the Municipality without delivering any services. It is alleged that the Mayor benefitted from the contracts given to these companies.

In light of the above, I have also laid criminal charges against Mayor Bobani and the Acting City Manager.

This is not the first time. On 13 March 2019 I also brought criminal charges against Cllr Bobani in respect of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act, 2004. These charges were instituted at Humewood Police Station.

When the DA governed Nelson Mandela Bay, we delivered. The people of Nelson Mandela Bay know this to be true, they have told us they want Change!

Change is coming to Nelson Mandela Bay!

Only the DA can fight corruption, speed up basic service delivery and build One South Africa for All.

Regards

Athol Trollip
DA Federal Chairperson

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