Ramaphosa backs Nelson Mandela Bay mayor’s performance during EC visit

President Cyril Ramaphosa has backed the performance of Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Babalwa Lobishe, saying she is fixing the city.

Ramaphosa, in his capacity as ANC president, visited the metro on Monday, flanked by other high-ranking officials in his party’s national working committee.

They visited service delivery sites, as well as the Bantu Church of Christ in New Brighton, where he praised Bishop Mlungisi Bebula.

Leaders such as ANC national chair Gwede Mantashe visited the Bloemendal substation as well as the sites of recently collapsed pylons and other areas.

Asked for his view on Lobishe’s performance as mayor, Ramaphosa said she was doing very well.

“She is stabilising the metro, and it’s one of the wonderful things that we’ve got a woman who is leading the metro,” he said.

“We don’t have many such in the country, and so that, for me, is a great plus. Women tend to have a great deal of sensitivity to the issues that need to be addressed to improve the lives of our people.

“So she has been doing very well in terms of attending to some of the issues that have not been attended to.

“We’ve just been to a housing project … with the former minister of human settlements. They took me to the sites where the housing projects were left derelict for almost eight years, and the mayor has been carrying on with that, making sure it is properly implemented.

There is work being done but we want to see that work picking up.

—  President Cyril Ramaphosa

“So there has been good progress, and of course, I’d like to see much more, better progress and faster … they are working on it.”

Ramaphosa said the ANC had visited the Bay to assess whether services were being delivered. “There is work being done but we want to see that work picking up.”

On two previous occasions during his visits to the city, Ramaphosa had described it as filthy.

Asked if his assessment had changed, he said he had not gone around enough to comment.

“I haven’t gone around the city sufficiently to see whether it’s still filthy or clean or better, but we want our people to live in clean cities. We want our people to live in clean cities where there’s no rubbish all over.

“Our people are neat themselves, and therefore they deserve to live in a very well-run city from an administrative point of view, political point of view and organisational point of view.

“We want a city that functions, that is clean.”

His visit comes as the metro faces a deepening financial crisis, with municipal arrears ballooning to about R22.6bn.

The Bay is also struggling with a low collection rate, rising electricity and water losses and increasing pressure to recover outstanding payments.

Last week, several areas in the city were without water and electricity due to unplanned outages.

The municipality also faces an administrative leadership gap as it has no executive directors.

However, it has a COO and CFO, who are also section 57 managers.

Feedback from a closed session with ANC councillors showed mixed performances, with some progress in projects, but ongoing challenges in infrastructure, financial management and service delivery.

Internal tensions within the ANC caucus also emerged during the session.

Meanwhile, Lobishe said they were trying their best to appoint executive directors.

Turning to The Herald’s reporter, she said: “It is just a pity that the reporter never sees anything positive about our city.

“We appointed last year the CFO, when there was no CFO, we have appointed a permanent COO when there was no COO.

“In terms of the executive directors, the advert is closing on the 6th for two executive director positions for infrastructure and for electricity and energy.

The ANC recognises that service delivery challenges in areas such as water, sanitation, roads, electricity and housing are not abstract issues but daily realities affecting the dignity and livelihoods of residents.

—  ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula

“The second aspect is that interviews have gone by.

“Psychometric tests have been done for two other executive directors.

“One would appreciate that the city has gone on a macro-structure revival by an instruction [of the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs] nationally, which has been a phenomenon for all the cities in the country.

“We have advertised more than twice in the very same newspaper she is working for, so she should appreciate the process.”

After concluding oversight visits and a meeting with ANC councillors, secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the national working committee had received detailed reports from deployees and its leadership.

These included updates on governance from Lobishe as well as organisational reports from its structures.

“These engagements provided a consolidated view of the municipality’s performance, confirming that while progress is being made in specific projects, systemic challenges remain in infrastructure maintenance, financial management and service delivery consistency,” he said.

“The ANC recognises that service delivery challenges in areas such as water, sanitation, roads, electricity and housing are not abstract issues but daily realities affecting the dignity and livelihoods of residents.

“The presence of national leadership on the ground is therefore both a governance intervention and a political commitment to accountability.”

It is understood that one of the key issues raised during a closed session with councillors was divisions within the party’s council caucus.

One insider said that about three councillors had raised the issue of ANC caucuses not sitting ahead of council meetings.

“Divisions among councillors were raised, which is when it was decided to close the meeting for the SG to come back.

“Submissions included councillors not agreeing on agenda items because some within the ANC felt that certain individuals were favoured.”

One of the most recent cases of a divided caucus happened during Thursday’s council meeting when members of the ANC made amendments to recommendations from Lobishe’s report.

Lobishe was not present at the meeting and had appointed NA councillor and deputy mayor Gary van Niekerk as acting mayor.

Though Lobishe’s report recommended that COO Lonwabo Ngoqo be appointed acting city manager between April and October, some ANC councillors instead proposed CFO Jackson Ngcelwane for 14 days.

Asked about the divisions in the caucus, Mbalula confirmed this issue was raised.

“We are not going to tolerate anarchy, including the disruptive activities of individuals within the council who want to pursue their own interests,” Mbalula said.

“There is only one line and that line is the ANC line.

“If you don’t toe that line the jig is up.

“We are going to intervene in this metro.

“You will choose between the ANC and the gate.

“If you are disciplined enough, you will toe the line on the ANC, and all issues that have been addressed.

“We have done that in many councils.

“That’s why we are here, to fix things.

“Time is not on our side.

“We are going to come back here.

“It has become very fashionable in these councils for people to forget the mandate of the people and the party line of the ANC.

“Unity of the caucus of the ANC doesn’t have direction, and we are going to resolve it.

“We are the party.

“We run the ANC.

“We can’t allow people to do as they wish about the ANC.”

The Herald

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