The Speaker of the Nelson Mandela Bay council, Eugene Johnson, confirmed to News24 that an investigative team was probing allegations of fraud against the mayor, Gary van Niekerk.

The Eastern Cape leader of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Lance Grootboom, alleged that, although Van Niekerk was not the Speaker of the Nelson Mandela Bay council for several months in 2022, he used the official letterhead and signatory of the office to appoint Boqwana Burns Attorneys and rack up legal bills to the tune of R551 586.

Charges of fraud were laid against Van Niekerk by the ACDP early last month.

The investigation was then taken over by the Hawks.

A letter written to the municipality by the law firm stated that the municipality allegedly owed more than half a million rand for services rendered after they were appointed on 8 June 2022 by Van Niekerk.

The firm represented the municipality in cases involving Van Niekerk and fellow members of the erstwhile Northern Alliance, as well as a case involving the now-suspended City manager and Johnson, who was mayor at the time.

Johnson said she followed the recommendations of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Zolile Williams to probe the allegations.

"I reacted to the MEC's recommendation on how the matter should be handled. The team will investigate if the facts around the allegations are correct," she said.

In a letter sent to Johnson by Williams, dated 28 September 2023, he said Van Niekerk's alleged action of appointing a service provider on behalf of the municipality and signing the appointment letter on 8 June last year was "a clear breach of the Code of Conduct which warrants action to be taken."

"You are, therefore, instructed to ensure that the provisions of item 15 (Breaches of Code) of the Code of Conduct for Councillors are observed and followed to the letter when handling this matter so as to ensure that there is compliance with the law," Williams told Johnson in the letter.

When approached for comment on Wednesday, Van Niekerk had no knowledge of the coming investigation and said he only heard about it when asked by News24.

He later told News24 that he had received a lengthy document from Johnson afterwards to inform him of the investigation.

"I had all of my MMCs in a meeting this morning [Wednesday], and they were quite perplexed because no one knew about it. None of the party members of the Speaker knew about this either. The Speaker has been doing her own thing in the background, and the answer to why is something I would like to know as well," he said.

Van Niekerk said he had no idea where this came from because it was not the correct procedure to follow.

"The proper procedure to follow is when anybody writes about any misconduct of any councillor, that it must go to the rules and ethics committee.

"What she should have done first is contact me and give me an opportunity to respond - and, if she was not happy with my case, to escalate it to this committee," he said.

"We will be seeking legal advice on this matter."