The last five years of governance in Nelson Mandela Bay is best described as one of the most chaotic periods since the formation of the metro in 2000. Instead of one party making the decisions — be it good or bad decisions — residents have had a front-row seat to continuous bickering among parties to the point where council meetings could not proceed due to a lack of quorum.

Some parties flipped and flopped allegiances depending on the topic of the day, and the end of it all was an administration waiting for decisions to be taken to get services moving...