After boldly proclaiming in front of a large crowd on Wednesday night that a scheduled public meeting in Uitenhage would not go ahead, ANC Ward 50 councillor Lunga Nombhexeza struggled to explain himself on Thursday.
Asked why he had disrupted the meeting at the Allanridge Hall, Nombhexeza initially directed questions to the ANC leadership, but later claimed he had addressed the crowd only after the meeting had already collapsed.
A Herald reporter at the meeting saw Nombhexeza standing on a table shouting: “This meeting won’t take place. We want [mayor Athol] Trollip here and not these councillors.”
Asked what causes he had championed for Ward 50, in KwaLanga, Nombhexeza said that he had made submissions in July to Trollip regarding a lack of service delivery in his area.
He said he had never submitted motions to portfolio committees and the council because the needs of his ward were being met.
“I hope the mayor will be able to address us,” he said.
“We’ve had a good relationship with the municipality but there are still services that need to be addressed.”
Asked why he had not used the opportunity at Wednesday’s meeting to get residents to air their grievances in front of an audience of the municipality’s officials and political heads, Nombhexeza said he had feared for his safety.