The presence of convicted ANC councillor Bongo Nombiba in the Nelson Mandela Bay council chamber would put the metro at adverse risk of not being in compliance with the laws that govern municipalities, the opposition warned.
A debate about his presence was debated for almost an hour as opposition councillors demanded that Nombiba be removed from the chamber.
Councillors are meant to debate and pass the adjustments budget, among other things.
Nombiba lost his application for leave to appeal his fraud conviction and sentence in the at the Supreme Court of Appeal last week Friday.
He will now petition the Judge President of the SCA, asking him to reconsider.
His application will be brought in terms of Section 17(2)(f) of the Superior Courts Act.
He remains out on bail pending word from the SCA president.
After that, his only option is to find a constitutional issue to take to the Constitutional Court.
Nombiba was arrested in December 2016 and convicted in April 2018 of fraud and money laundering after the court found he had duped an NGO’s members into handing over R20,000 of a R30,000 donation he had helped secure.
He started serving his five-year sentence at St Albans in April, but was granted bail later pending his application to appeal against both his conviction and sentence.
When his appeal bid failed in the Commercial Crimes Court, he turned to the Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown), where his appeal was also denied.
The ANC in the Eastern Cape has since said it would start the process of removing him as a councillor.
His vacancy in Ward 19 would, however, have to take place through a by-election.
But acting city manager Peter Neilson said he was yet to receive notification from the ANC that Nombiba was no longer a councillor.
DA councillor Morne Steyn said: “Legislation is quite clear, that if someone is convicted, they are not allowed to be in the chamber.
“Any decisions we take will be invalid. The ANC has said that it will remove them.”
But ANC councillor Andile Lungisa said Nombiba would petition the judge president of the SCA.
“We are not a court of law. We are a council of 120 councillors. Unfortunately they are not in Grahamstown (Makhanda).
“The court was clear if his appeal is not successful he can go to the judge president. The DA wants to be clever,”
Lungisa said.
Patriotic Alliance councillor Marlon Daniels asked speaker Buyelwa Mafaya to consider the legalities around having Nombiba present.
“I don’t want us to waste time. In the event of a councillor not being fit to be here he must be dealt with. The court judgment is in the public domain. Do you have the judgment?
“We cannot go on hearsay. The consequences are immense as we have serious matters we have to deal with here,”
Daniels said.
Nombiba declined to comment before the meeting, only saying “I’m still a councillor.”
Bongo Nombiba to petition judge president of SCA
Image: Siyamtanda Capa
The presence of convicted ANC councillor Bongo Nombiba in the Nelson Mandela Bay council chamber would put the metro at adverse risk of not being in compliance with the laws that govern municipalities, the opposition warned.
A debate about his presence was debated for almost an hour as opposition councillors demanded that Nombiba be removed from the chamber.
Councillors are meant to debate and pass the adjustments budget, among other things.
Nombiba lost his application for leave to appeal his fraud conviction and sentence in the at the Supreme Court of Appeal last week Friday.
He will now petition the Judge President of the SCA, asking him to reconsider.
His application will be brought in terms of Section 17(2)(f) of the Superior Courts Act.
He remains out on bail pending word from the SCA president.
After that, his only option is to find a constitutional issue to take to the Constitutional Court.
Nombiba was arrested in December 2016 and convicted in April 2018 of fraud and money laundering after the court found he had duped an NGO’s members into handing over R20,000 of a R30,000 donation he had helped secure.
He started serving his five-year sentence at St Albans in April, but was granted bail later pending his application to appeal against both his conviction and sentence.
When his appeal bid failed in the Commercial Crimes Court, he turned to the Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown), where his appeal was also denied.
The ANC in the Eastern Cape has since said it would start the process of removing him as a councillor.
His vacancy in Ward 19 would, however, have to take place through a by-election.
But acting city manager Peter Neilson said he was yet to receive notification from the ANC that Nombiba was no longer a councillor.
DA councillor Morne Steyn said: “Legislation is quite clear, that if someone is convicted, they are not allowed to be in the chamber.
“Any decisions we take will be invalid. The ANC has said that it will remove them.”
But ANC councillor Andile Lungisa said Nombiba would petition the judge president of the SCA.
“We are not a court of law. We are a council of 120 councillors. Unfortunately they are not in Grahamstown (Makhanda).
“The court was clear if his appeal is not successful he can go to the judge president. The DA wants to be clever,”
Lungisa said.
Patriotic Alliance councillor Marlon Daniels asked speaker Buyelwa Mafaya to consider the legalities around having Nombiba present.
“I don’t want us to waste time. In the event of a councillor not being fit to be here he must be dealt with. The court judgment is in the public domain. Do you have the judgment?
“We cannot go on hearsay. The consequences are immense as we have serious matters we have to deal with here,”
Daniels said.
Nombiba declined to comment before the meeting, only saying “I’m still a councillor.”
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