THE DA announced on Wednesday that CoGTA MEC Xolile Nqatha does not have the power to declare election of Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Nqaba Bhanga as invalid, challenging him to go to court if he so wishes.
Bhanga, the Eastern Cape DA leader, was elected as the new mayor during a chaotic council meeting on Friday.
The DA said the letter by the Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs addressed to the office of the Speaker regarding last week’s Nelson Mandela Bay council meeting, is devoid of any truth and in extreme bad faith.
In the letter, Nqatha states the election of an Acting Speaker and, therefore, the election of a Mayor at last week’s Nelson Mandela Bay special council meeting, was unlawful and therefore null and void. This could not be further from the truth.
The Acting City Manager, Mandla George called for nominations for the election of an Acting Speaker while still in the council chamber, which then resulted in the nomination of Cllr Marlon Daniels, which was also seconded.
Bhanga told eNCA, “there are only two ways in which Nqaba Bhanga can be removed as an Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay.”
“If Xolile Nqatha clearly doesn’t love that the DA is in the city hall. If they don’t like that the Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay is Nqaba Bhanga they must drink it and love it. We are still going to be here.”
Nqatha has rejected the election of Bhanga as Nelson Mandela Bay’s new mayor.
In a letter to Nelson Mandela Bay Speaker Buyelwa Mafaya, dated 8 December, Nqatha said the department received a report from acting city manager Anele Qaba on the council sitting on Friday that led to Bhanga’s election.
“According to the report, it clearly shows that the election of the acting speaker by councillors to preside over the election of an executive mayor was done in contravention of [the] terms of section 36 (3) of [the] Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998. Neither the acting city manager nor a person designated by the MEC presided over the election of the acting speaker on 4 December. The election of the acting speaker was therefore wrongful, unlawful and null and void,” he said.
(SOURCE: INSIDE METROS)