LISTEN | Mayor Retief Odendaal speaks out about alleged threats

“I will not be intimidated.”

So says Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Retief Odendaal, responding to alleged threats to hold him hostage at the City Hall in Gqeberha.

This as the metro’s electricity and energy executive director, Luvuyo Magalela, has already left the city because he had been threatened.

The alleged threats come amid claims of sabotage on the Bay’s power network just days after the municipality suspended seven officials in the electricity and energy department, after a preliminary forensic investigation uncovered an alleged corrupt network operating in the department.  

Major power outages — which Odendaal said on Monday morning were “likely to have been caused by intent” hit several parts of the metro at the weekend and on Monday, plunging households and businesses into darkness.

In Behind The Herald Headlines with Daron Mann this week, we speak to Odendaal about what sparked the investigation and his response to alleged threats.

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