Take Two for Nelson Mandela Bay’s controversial new acting city manager

The Nelson Mandela Bay metro’s acting chief operating officer, Lonwabo Ngoqo, has been appointed as the municipality’s 18th acting city manager in 10 years – and the 16th since 2020.

The contract of former acting city manager Ted Pillay came to an end on Tuesday.

The metro’s current city manager, Dr Noxolo Nqwazi, is on trial in the commercial crimes court for tender fraud and corruption. There is a disciplinary hearing against her as well, but a legal opinion from a top lawyer in the city indicates that the metro is not likely to succeed in having her dismissed. 

The council has failed to decide on her position over the past two years, and there is a standoff over her dismissal. The Treasury refuses to pay her a settlement while her disciplinary hearing is pending. As a result, the city has had a succession of acting city managers. 

On Tuesday night, metro director of communications Sithembiso Soyaya said, “As part of council’s interventions, advocate Ngoqo has been appointed as acting city manager for a period of three months. This appointment provides necessary continuity in administration. 

“Council is prioritising the filling of critical leadership posts, with recruitment currently under way for senior positions in electricity and energy, infrastructure and engineering. Strengthening these capacities is essential to ensure service delivery stability and improved infrastructure planning and implementation,” he said. 

Ngoqo’s history as a city manager, however, is highly controversial.

In 2012, he was found guilty on four of seven counts of serious financial misconduct involving an unlawful land deal during his time as municipal manager of the Bitou Municipality. It was found that he paid R23-million for a piece of land worth R2.4-million at the time.

Ngoqo was dismissed in February 2012 after a seven-month suspension. A senior manager found guilty of serious misconduct cannot be employed by a municipality for a period of 10 years, in terms of the Systems Act.

However, in 2019, he was unlawfully appointed for a second stint as municipal manager of Bitou by the then ANC-led coalition. The appointment was later set aside by the labour court and labour appeal court. In 2021, the Constitutional Court dismissed an application by both Ngoqo and the Bitou Municipality for leave to appeal.

The MEC for Local Government in the Western Cape then threatened legal action should Ngoqo be appointed, but to no avail. The Bitou Municipality still appointed him. 

The ACDP’s Lance Grootboom said last night that Ngoqo had not declared the ban or the misconduct finding to the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality. He further questioned if the ban against his redeployment had run out, given the number of appeals that had taken place over the past decade, something that would have suspended the sanction against him. DM