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We will fight for the people of Nelson Mandela Bay

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https://youtu.be/68B41UceAEM

Dear MyPE

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) attorneys of record have served letters on the Speaker of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, ANC Cllr Buyelwa Mafaya, as well as the Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Xolile Nqatha.

The letter to Mafaya has requested that she call an urgent council meeting for Monday next week (3 August 2020) to elect a new mayor, appoint a qualified and competent Acting City Manager and address the concerns of National Treasury. The meeting must also discuss the letter from MEC Nqatha to the self-styled “interim” Mayor, Cllr Tshonono Buyeye, wherein he states his intention of placing the Metro under administration.

The legal letter follows several requests from the DA and other parties for such a council meeting that Mafaya has ignored.

Should Mafaya not inform all councillors of the meeting by 13:00 today (Wednesday, 29 July 2020) the DA will institute urgent legal proceedings, seeking an order compelling her to call the meeting. We shall also seek punitive costs against Cllr Mafaya for her failure to comply with her obligations as Speaker.

The letter to MEC Nqatha requests clarity on what aspects of section 139(1) he intends taking, as well as informing him of the letter to Cllr Mafaya. It is the Speaker who has refused to call a meeting to appoint a new Executive Mayor. As such, any action taken should be directed at compelling the Speaker to do so.

Should the Speaker not call the meeting today, the MEC has been given till tomorrow 13:00 to do so.

The bar is set very high for a provincial government to place a municipality under administration and must not be taken lightly. The province must prove that they have acted to support and service the City in the years and months leading up to this decision.

We are also mindful of the recent Tshwane judgement and will not allow the Bhisho government to cause even more chaos in the Metro. We have also noted with concern, MEC Nqatha’s premature comments that he will seek to dissolve the council.

Should MEC Nqatha follow through with his threats of dissolving the council, without first exhausting measures which are less destructive to democracy, we have instructed our attorneys to seek urgent relief, and punitive costs order against the MEC.

The DA remains committed to taking Nelson Mandela Bay forward again, and I have, therefore, made myself available as the DA’s Mayoral Candidate for Nelson Mandela Bay.

The DA has formulated a 10-point plan that can be implemented with immediate effect to stop the rot in the City.

As soon as I am elected Mayor I will take the following immediate steps to put the Metro on the path of recovery:

  1. I will lead a senior municipal delegation to Tshwane to meet with National Treasury in a bid to resolve all outstanding matters pertaining to outstanding grant funding/equitable share payments;
  2. A request will be made to the Department of Water Affairs to send a delegation to Nelson Mandela Bay to provide the Metro with advice and/or support regarding our Drought Mitigation Plan. This request will accompany a further request for a temporary secondment of a Water Engineer to NMB;
  3. The Chief Financial Officer will be requested to facilitate emergency procurement processes for any drought related projects, goods or services;
  4. We will facilitate an intergovernmental relationship meeting between the Metro, Provincial and National Departments of Human Settlements to discuss and facilitate a way forward in respect of failed housing delivery projects in NMB;
  5. Institute a forensic audit in respect of all Covid-19 related expenditure in the Metro;
  6. Appoint a competent and qualified Acting City Manager;
  7. Access the status quo of all expired service d Access the status quo of all expired service delivery related contracts and request the CFO the facilitate the fast-tracking of same;
  8. Commence with the “Clean our City Campaign” to fast-track cleansing across all communities;
  9. Institute a Basic Service Delivery Action Programme across all directorates. Daily reports will then be delivered to the Mayors’ office regarding the eradication of the service delivery backlog in relation to potholes, streetlights, water leaks and sewerage spills;
  10. All portfolio committee committees will meet immediately to consider all outstanding items to date in a bid to eradicate the backlog in service delivery matters. The Mayoral Committee will also hold marathon sessions to attend to any backlogs which may exist therein.

Only the DA can save the City from total ruin and take Nelson Mandela Bay forward again.

Regards

Cllr Nqaba Bhanga
DA EC Provincial Leader

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This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.