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Delay in announcing NMB mayoral committee increases political instability during time of crisis

By

Dear Editor

Petty political bickering within Nelson Mandela Bay’s governing coalition is currently taking centre stage adding even more political instability to an already unstable and ineffective administration. While the residents of the metro suffer under the yolk of poor service delivery and the worst natural disaster crisis in decades, politicians are thinking with their stomachs.

The DA notes with concern the delays experienced in the appointment of Mayor Babalwa Lobishe’s new mayoral committee. This delay is being caused by smaller parties fighting for positions and their personal interests within the ANC-led coalition government. Adding to this chaos is the Speaker’s decision to suspend the sitting of all standing committees.

This petty bickering over positions and portfolios is taking place while residents are grappling with their third flood disaster since 1 June this year. The most recent taking place on 4 and 5 November, following heavy rains over the metro.

The fact remains that simply reshuffling the mayoral committee and rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic will not halt the metro’s further decline. The metro needs a committed team of skilled senior managers to stabilise the administration, and this cannot be achieved while seven of the ten Executive Director positions are vacant.

While the metro is hamstrung by political and administrative instability, we will be calling for an early adjustment budget to be tabled in Council so that flood-damaged infrastructure can finally be reinstated.

Even though the metro was declared a disaster area, the municipality has been unable to reallocate budgets and use emergency procurement processes to begin the reinstatement works. This lack of response to one of the biggest natural disasters to hit the metro in decades has once again highlighted the dysfunction within the administration.

It is especially the communities in Kariega that fear the floodwaters the most. Much of the stormwater system in various parts of Kariega has been partially or wholly destroyed. These communities are extremely vulnerable, as any significant rainfall can potentially endanger their lives and/or destroy their property.

We offered the ANC an opportunity to establish a bi-partisan coalition on the basis that in Nelson Mandela Bay, multiparty coalitions have not delivered sustainable delivery, good governance and stability, but they opted for the status quo.

The DA will however continue to offer solutions that seek to stabilise the dysfunctional administration so that we can secure better service delivery for our communities. The DA is in your corner fighting for you. Together we can rebuild our communities and get NMB working again.

Regards

Cllr Rano Kayser
DA NMB Caucus Leader

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Port Elizabethan

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