Wheels come off in Trollip, Bobani feud
The wheel – as the saying goes – always turns, but when it is attached to a politician’s motorcycle, chances are good it will kick up a lot of dust.
This was the case this week when ousted Nelson Mandela Bay deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani took to Twitter to rev his nemesis, mayor Athol Trollip over his recent failure to pass a motorcycle driving test.
And that the wheels in question, those attached to Trollip’s nifty Vespa scooter, rolled back on an incline during his practical yard test, only fuelled Bobani’s attack on Trollip, whom he accused of driving a motorbike without a licence.
The week-long “Twar” between the UDM councillor and the mayor – who in turn accused Bobani of ignorance of the law – has given the twitterarti a good run for their money.
The spat came to a head on Thursday when Bobani accused Trollip of being a failure.
“Is it true that last month you fail[ed] to pass your motor bike licence twice, first one your bike fail[ed] [the] roadworthy test, second time it rolled on the incline, yet as mayor of NMBM, you drive around with [an] unlicensed motorbike,” Bobani tweeted.Trollip responded and said the fact he had failed was a great endorsement of the traffic department as it showed no one got special treatment.
“You never get your facts 100%, yet [you] present your case as fact. My motorcycle is roadworthy [and] I have a learner’s licence to drive it. I did fail the driver’s test for rolling back. This is a great endorsement for our licensing dept. No favours for anyone and no “R30000.00” bribes,” Trollip tweeted.Trollip’s reference to R30,000 may be linked to How to Steal a City author Crispian Olver who wrote that Bobani was known as “Mr50K” for allegedly taking money to approve rezoning. Bobani has repeatedly denied these allegations.
The latest spat between Trollip and Bobani stemmed from an article published in The Herald on Monday where Patriotic Alliance councillor Marlon Daniels called for road works on Circular Drive to be stopped and the money diverted either to the northern areas or the township.
Taking to Twitter on Monday, Bobani said Daniels, the roads and transport committee portfolio head, was interfering with the administration and asked the mayor to respond to the allegations.
Trollip responded: “If you just spent a full day in council you could ask all the questions you want. In fact, even when you do table questions and allegations, you don’t stay there long enough to have them answered or debated. Make up your mind about what it is exactly that you want.”
Bobani hit back and tweeted: “Mr Mayor answer the question. Did Marlon Daniels, interfere with admin when he blocked a project? My black mind sir is much more wake-up (sic) and clever than a white farmer!”
Exchanges throughout the week between the two ranged from the legitimacy of municipal manager Johann Mettler’s appointment to homophobic comments made by Nelson Mandela Bay coalition partner, ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom.
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