Chippa fights back

[caption id="attachment_19106" align="alignright" width="200"] CHIPPA NGCOLOMBA[/caption]

NELSON Mandela Bay deputy mayor Chippa Ngcolomba has hit back at his critics, saying he has no time to entertain petty, political agendas by "known assailants" who attacked him because he refused to be corrupted.

Ngcolomba was responding to senior ANC councillors and some party insiders who told The Herald earlier this week that his days as the city's second in charge were numbered.

According to several party insiders, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, Ngcolomba is likely to be the biggest casualty of an expected leadership reshuffle by the ANC, the second one in less than two years.

While the ANC has denied that it plans to oust Ngcolomba, national spokesman Zizi Kodwa said on Sunday that the party's national leadership was very concerned about political instability and the state of governance in the metro.

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe also told party regional structures on Saturday that the metro needed to be led by a "maverick", further fuelling speculation that the Bay was on the verge of a leadership change. - Nwabisa Makunga