Nqaba Bhanga appeals to premier to intervene in Nelson Mandela Bay

The DA in the Eastern Cape has asked premier Oscar Mabuyane to intervene in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, saying it was failing to spend its capital budget.

DA provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga said in a statement that the coalition government, led by the ANC and UDM, had proved itself incapable of governing the metro, as it failed to spend even half of its budget for capital projects with just over a month to go before the end of the current financial year.

"As of 15 May 2019, the ANC-led coalition of corruption had only spent 41,9% of its capital budget for the current financial year.

"The latest available figures show that the municipality has spent just over R892m of its R2,1bn capital budget, which means it has less than 45 days to spend more than R1,2bn," Bhanga said.

In his letter, Bhanga requested Mabuyane's immediate intervention in the metro through Section 154 of the Constitution.

Section 154 allows officials from the the department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to provide necessary administrative support to a municipality.

Bhanga also sited the reshuffling of acting municipal managers in the city, saying it was causing administrative instability.

Speaking further on the underspending, Bhanga said: "The aforesaid dramatic underspending is exposing the administration to adverse risk, especially given the fact that National Treasury made it clear that no roll-over grant funding application shall be considered should the city fail to appoint a permanent CFO before the end of the financial year."

"Only two of the eight directorates in NMB currently has permanent executive directors, being human settlements and safety and security. Very little progress has however been made in endeavouring to fill these vacancies," Bhanga said.

There are, however executive directors in three other departments, but their five-year contracts are ending over the next few weeks.