Bobani and mayoral committee report to City Hall for duty

The newly elected Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Mongameli Bobani and his mayoral committee, which the DA has labelled sham, made their way to the Port Elizabeth City Hall on Tuesday morning.

The councillors trickled in one by one and gathered inside the council chambers, waiting to meet with city manager Johann Mettler.

Meanwhile, for the DA and its coalition partners, it was business as usual as its mayoral committee members reported for work at the Noninzi Luzipho building.

Bobani said he was ready to hit the ground running and give services to the people, saying he was ready to occupy his office although it was locked. 

Bobani added that there would be no disruptions at this weekend’s Ironman World 70.3 Championship, urging triathletes and their guests not to worry.

The ANC's Makhi Feni, who was appointed political head of corporate services by Bobani on Monday night, said if the DA thought the council meeting was illegal, it should contact it's lawyers and petition the courts.

Meanwhile, ACDP councilllor Lance Grootboom said as far as he was concerned he was still the public health political head as he believed Monday's council meeting was illegal.

Bobani and his crew were meant to have their first mayoral committee meeting inside the council chambers on the first floor but were interrupted by DA councilllor Rano Kayser who said he had already booked the chamber for his economic development committee meeting which was his first in his capacity as MMC.

The newly elected group walked out of chambers and had a brief meeting in the basement chambers before meeting with Mettler.

The DA will hold at press conference at 11:30am in Cape Town to discuss its position on the Bay council debacle.

This is a developing story