Pressure on East Cape government to intervene in Nelson Mandela Bay

The ANC and DA are calling on the Eastern Cape government to intervene in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality after a death threat made against acting city manager Noxolo Nqwazi, and her subsequent axing.

Nqwazi was removed from her position and replaced with director of housing delivery Mvuleni Mapu to allow her time to “recover” after an accident she was involved in last week.

In a statement on Monday night, Bay acting mayor Thsonono Buyeye confirmed he had removed Nqwazi from her acting position as it had expired on May 28.

However, the council passed a recommendation in December that Buyeye not be given the delegated executive authority to appoint a replacement, and that only the council should be allowed to appoint an acting city boss.

In a letter addressed to all municipal staff on Tuesday, DA provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga challenged Buyeye’s decision to relieve Nqwazi of her duties, saying he did not have the authority to do so.

Nqwazi hurt her neck and was off for two days last week, but was back at work on Monday morning.

She did not submit a sick certificate requesting to be off this week.

Nqwazi has been the metro’s acting city manager since the December 5 council meeting.

On Monday morning, she received a threatening note that told her to get out of her office or she would die. She found it next to her car.

She was accused, in the note, of holding things up.

In the letter, Bhanga said if Buyeye did not revoke his decision, his actions could be deemed unlawful. .

“The decision taken by yourselves yesterday afternoon [Monday] of the removal of Ms Nqwazi as the acting city manager and her replacement by Mr Mapu as the acting city manager is unlawful and exposes the council and the municipality to enormous liability.

“As a result, the authority of Mr Mapu is unlawful and I wish to advise you that should you act on any of his unlawful instructions in his assumed position as acting city manager that your actions shall be unlawful and will expose yourself to personal liability,” Bhanga said.

He said he would immediately take up the matter with Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Eastern Cape Cogta MEC Xolile Nqatha.

In a statement on Tuesday, ANC provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi appealed to the provincial government to decisively intervene and ensure that stability and good governance was restored in the Bay.

“The ANC PEC had mandated the ANC caucus in Nelson Mandela Bay not to support illegal appointments and decisions and to put the interests of the people first and work with all parties in council to address the challenges confronting the municipality.

“PEC deployees will also be working closely with the ANC structures in the region and the ANC caucus in the municipality to strengthen the ANC’s capacity to provide effective and decisive leadership that betters the lives of our people,” Ngcukayitobi said.

Buyeye said the council was meant to appoint a new acting city manager last Friday but the meeting did not materialise as a quorum could not be met because opposition parties boycotted the meeting.

“As executive mayor I have a legal obligation to ensure that the city meets all its functional administrative obligations. As such, a vacancy in the office of the city manager cannot be allowed.

“Our focus as the city is to move with speed to fight against the two disasters that we are currently facing, the Covid-19 and the water disaster,” Buyeye said.

Who is Mvuleni Mapu?

• He is a human settlements director;
• He has been suspended twice, the first time in 2007 on an allegation of misconduct, fraud and inciting workers by leading a protest against the municipality. The suspension was lifted by the council before the hearing was concluded;
• Again in 2015, he was suspended by former acting city manager Johann Mettler. This lasted for 3½ years. He was suspended for allegedly authorising the construction of houses in Rosedale and Wells Estate prior to a funding agreement with the Eastern Cape department of human settlements being in place.
• He returned to work in March 2019 after a council meeting the month before resolved to bring back suspended officials whose disciplinary cases had been dragging on for longer than three months.