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Does NMB Have a Mayor Or Not?

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Retief Odendaal sets the record straight:

Dear Nelson Mandela Bay Residents,

There is currently a lot of confusion regarding whether I have been removed as Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay, and whether or not the coalition government remains in tact.

I want to use this opportunity to set the record straight.

(See Also: Urgent Court Hearing Set Over Section 12 Amendment)

By virtue of the Gazette of the Section 12 notice last week, which seeks to change the system of governance from a Mayoral Executive to a Collective Executive, theoretically the Office of Executive Mayor of NMB no longer exists.

We have been told that, following the Gazette, the parties who qualify for representation on the Collective Executive have 14 days to put their representatives forward.

However, we have launched an urgent court application to prevent the implementation of the proposed changes, which we don’t believe is in the interest of the administration of the municipality or in the interests of the residents of NMB.

The application is in two parts, the first of which is to have the Section 12 amendment suspended until the main application is concluded.

This part of the application is set down to be heard in the Gqeberha High Court next week Friday, the 30th of December 2022.

In the main application, which will be heard at a later date, we will argue that the MEC’s decision to change the system of governance of the municipality is politically motivated and that the reasons given for the changes are irrational and have no merit.

The proposal to change the system of governance in a municipality, a year after the local government elections has never been done in South Africa.

It is also my belief that should this process be implemented as proposed, it will plunge the administration of NMB into chaos and paralyze service delivery to our residents.

We are already seeing the impact of this in the confusion regarding the validity of the position of Executive Mayor and the coalition.

We will not be deterred, and will continue to serve the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay to the best of our ability.

Should the first part of the application be successful next week, it will result in the gazette being suspended, and will mean that I would have, in fact, been Executive Mayor all along and that the actions of the MEC are but in abeyance until the court has reviewed it.

We believe that our case has strong merits and have no doubt that the MEC will be embarrassed by the outcome.

My coalition partners and I will continue to fight to save Nelson Mandela Bay, not for ourselves or our own agendas, but for the people of this great city.

Regards

Retief Odendaal
Executive Mayor, NMB

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.