The official position party in Nelson Mandela Bay is threatening to take disciplinary action against the Speaker, Eugene Johnson, for allegedly breaching the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

According to the Democratic Alliance's Morné Steyn, Johnson is in breach of the Code of Conduct because she failed to take action regarding the alleged fraudulent activity of the mayor, Gary van Niekerk.

News24 previously reported that Johnson had confirmed an investigative team was probing allegations of fraud against Van Niekerk.

The African Christian Democratic Party's (ACDP's) Lance Grootboom alleged that, although Van Niekerk was not the Speaker of the 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 in September.

The investigation was then taken over by the Hawks.

The law 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, Noxolo Nqwazi, 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.

However, according to an insider, the investigative committee never sat down for a meeting to discuss the case, which meant Johnson had not done anything to address the alleged fraud committed by Van Niekerk.

In a letter to Johnson, dated 3 November 2023, Steyn said because Johnson had "failed to act" on the matter, despite Williams' recommendations, and the matter was already with the Hawks, she herself was in contravention of Clause 15 of the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

This clause states, among others, that should there be reasonable suspicion that a provision of the Code has been breached, the Speaker must authorise an investigation and give the councillor an opportunity to respond and report the matter to council in a council meeting.

Steyn said that, despite these legislative and fiduciary obligations, Johnson allegedly failed to act for seven weeks, although there were "clear grounds of reasonable suspicion". 

He called for Johnson to "act decisively" within seven days of receiving the letter.

The letter read, "Failing so, we intend to pursue all legislative and administrative processes in this regard in order for you to fulfil your duties. [We will hold] you accountable for your failure to fulfil your duties herein, including pursuing action against you personally for your failure to comply with the Code of Conduct."

However, Johnson said a report on the matter would be tabled at the next council meeting, scheduled for next Thursday. As such, she did not understand why there was pressure from Steyn.

She added that the report was supposed to be presented two council meetings ago, but it was held back to double-check that everything was done by the book.

"Because the mayor is a senior politician, you cannot just refer him to the rules and ethics committee. A special team needs to be established, and he needs time to respond, so it is not just a quick and easy process," she said.

According to Johnson, because this was a legal matter, a legal representative had to be appointed to join the committee, which still needed to sit.

"That is what we have been busy with. The committee has to look at the report, and I have to take it to the council. That will happen next week," she said.