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Nelson Mandela Bay Speaker, ANC Cllr Buyelwa Mafaya, and the self-styled “Interim” Mayor, Cllr Thsonono Buyeye, are wasting residents hard-earned money on frivolous court cases, in their desperation to cling to power.

Both Mafaya and Buyeye have been flouting due process, by refusing to place the election of a new mayor on the council agenda, ever since former Mayor, Mongameli Bobani was removed from office in December last year.

The Municipal Structures Act clearly states that filling of a mayoral vacancy is obligatory and therefore council is prescribed by law to elect a Mayor. All decisions taken under an “Interim” Mayor can, thus, possibly be seen as unlawful and subject to legal scrutiny

I wrote to the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on 20 May, 4 June, 15 June, 22 June, 30 June and 7 July to highlight Mafaya and Buyeye’s rogue actions and disregard for the law.

After the DA brought this issue to the attention of the Minister, she wrote to the Eastern Cape MEC for CoGTA, Xolile Nqatha, on 5 June and instructed him to compile a report on the election of an Executive Mayor. MEC Nqatha was instructed to deliver this report within seven days. This deadline expired on 18 June 2020, but to date, no report has been forthcoming.

Several petitions to the Speaker, by a majority of councillors from several political parties, were also simply ignored.

Subsequently, the DA was forced to turn to the courts, at the party’s own expense, to seek relief and get Mafaya to fulfil her mandate as Speaker.

On 27 August 2020, the Port Elizabeth High Court ruled in favour of our urgent application to compel Mafaya, to call a council meeting to elect an Executive Mayor within seven days.

Instead, Mafaya has taken it upon herself to appeal the decision, at considerable cost to residents, and has the audacity to use the appeal as an excuse not to place the election of a Mayor on the Council agenda.

The ANC-led Coalition of Corruption’s bitter desperation to remain in power was further illustrated when Buyeye approached the High Court in Makhanda for an interdict prohibiting MEC Nqatha from implementing the directives issued by his office in terms of Section 139(1)(a) of the Constitution.

Chief amongst these directives is the election of an Executive Mayor.  The Court dismissed the application, but this decision is now also being appealed.

I have written to Minister Dlamini-Zuma, and requested her to intervene and bring an end to the continued flouting of legislation by Buyeye and Mafaya.

We will also be writing to National Treasury, to request that this frivolous litigation be declared fruitless and wasteful expenditure and will insist that these costs are recovered from the individuals concerned.

The DA will make sure that good governance and accountability return to Nelson Mandela Bay and will work tirelessly to turn this Metro around. We can fix this mess – we have done it before, and we will, together with the people of Nelson Mandela Bay, do it again.

Issued by The DA