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The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on Tuesday instructed the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality to provide urgent corrective action plans following several concerns raised by committee members during its follow-up oversight engagement with the municipality.
 
The committee considered several governance, financial management and service delivery issues. These include the prolonged suspension of the City Manager, acting positions and vacancies in critical senior management posts such as infrastructure.
 
The Chairperson of the committee, Dr Zweli Mkhize, told the municipality’s leadership that the committee was not interested in opinions or perceptions, but in facts, accountability and clear timelines.
 
During deliberations on the City Manager’s suspension with full pay, the committee noted that this has continued since 2024 and has cost the municipality over R6.7 million. This amount is based on the City Manager’s cost to company package and excludes the payment of acting allowances and other benefits for those acting. The committee learnt that the MEC of COGTA had voiced disapproval of the suspension beyond two years while the case is not finalised. The committee insisted on answers regarding the delay in finalising the disciplinary case and the legal basis for the decisions take. It also urged the MEC to interact with the municipality to finalise this matter.
 
The committee also interrogated the processes followed to appoint acting city managers during this time. Following detailed questioning, the committee established that there is currently no acting City Manager, as the CFO, one of two senior officials eligible to act in this position, declined to serve in that capacity. “This situation has become untenable and must be resolved urgently by the MEC [of COGTA],” the Chairperson said. He said the municipality had created a serious governance gap and that legal advice must be obtained on the implications of decisions taken during this period.
 
Vacancies in other critical senior management positions were also raised as a serious concern. The committee said it is unacceptable that five of seven executive director posts are vacant and an indication of serious dysfunction. Also, it is irregular to have acting directors operating without council authority. The municipality was asked to provide a legal opinion on the implications of this, including whether decisions taken by such acting officials could be challenged. The committee directed that the municipality should rectify this situation without delay, and the MEC should report to the committee on this within one month.
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In response to claims of political factionalism, the Chairperson condemned any political disagreement that results in instability in the municipality. He said party-political differences could not be accepted as a reason for disrupting municipal administration or service delivery. “Coalition partners had a responsibility to the same residents, regardless of party affiliation,” he said. The Chairperson also admonished political parties to desist from politicising municipal staff appointments, which should be guided by professionalism.
 
The committee instructed the provincial COGTA department to provide it with a profile of the administrative leadership, in particular top management, including their dates of appointment, qualifications, previous experience and the department’s comments on their suitability for the position. This must be provided within two weeks. The committee also instructed the mayor to provide details of all the acting managers, including when they started, when they were renewed and under what authority they are acting.

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Zweli Mkhize