Opposition parties move to oust NMB mayor over electricity and water woes

Two opposition parties in Nelson Mandela Bay have submitted notices of motions of no confidence against Mayor Babalwa Lobishe, accusing her of failing to exercise political oversight amid the metro’s worsening electricity crisis and broader service delivery failures.

The ACDP and the Freedom Front Plus submitted the notices this week, citing Tuesday’s collapse of a seventh high-voltage electricity transmission pylon and the controversial leasing of a R25-million municipal transformer to the private company Coega Steels last year, among other issues.

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In his motion, submitted on Wednesday, ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom said Lobishe had failed to exercise effective political oversight over the maintenance and management of critical municipal electricity infrastructure.

“The repeated collapse of electricity pylons within a short period demonstrates a systemic failure to maintain and protect the municipality’s high-voltage electricity transmission network,” he wrote.

“Despite earlier collapses and clear warning signs regarding the state of municipal infrastructure, the mayor failed to ensure the urgent appointment of service providers to implement a comprehensive inspection, maintenance and refurbishment programme for the municipality’s pylons and transmission lines.”

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Grootboom said the repeated electricity outages had caused significant hardship for residents, businesses and workers across the metro and had undermined its economy.

Water also a problem

“The mayor has also failed to provide decisive leadership in addressing persistent water outages and the broader deterioration of municipal infrastructure. The cumulative effect of these failures has resulted in a serious loss of confidence among residents regarding the ability of the current executive mayor to lead the municipality effectively.”

He said concerns about governance and transparency relating to the leasing of the transformer had further eroded public trust in the leadership of the municipality.

Freedom Front Plus councillor Bill Harington submitted his motion on Tuesday, arguing that Lobishe had to go because residents and businesses continued to face serious disruptions due to ageing infrastructure and poor oversight.

He wrote that, “Despite warnings and prior incidents, the mayor has failed to take decisive action to address and correct these challenges.”

Harington said under Lobishe’s watch, the metro had experienced repeated governance failures, including, the (alleged) unlawful removal of the transformer, the (alleged) freezing of her bank accounts “amidst allegations of fraud”, ongoing failures to provide residents with a sustainable water supply and the collapse of pylons and the electricity crisis that left large areas without power for several days.

Both Grootboom’s and Harington’s motions call on the council to declare that it has lost confidence in Lobishe as mayor and to remove her from office.

In January, two pylons collapsed and plunged half the city into darkness for six days, while in August 2024, four pylons collapsed, causing a two-week power outage.

After confirming receipt of the notices on Thursday, Speaker Eugene Johnson stated that she and acting City Manager Lonwabo Ngoqo were reviewing them to ensure they meet the requirements for tabling at the upcoming council meeting.

“A motion needs to be submitted to my office at least 10 days before the next scheduled meeting. Thereafter, a meeting will be held to determine the competency of the motion, checking if it has no financial implications, offensive or vulgar language, among other things,” said Johnson.

“If they pass the competency test, then the mover of the motion will be allowed to table it in council; councillors will decide if they want it to be discussed.”

If the council decides to discuss the motion, members will vote on whether it should be carried with the proposed resolutions.

Council composition

The ACDP and Freedom Front Plus caucuses hold two seats each in the 120-member council, where a total of 61 votes would be needed to remove Lobishe.

The ANC, with 48 seats, is in a coalition with the EFF (8 seats), NA (3), DOP (2), PAC (1), AIC (1) and AIM (1).

The ANC also enjoys support from the UDM (1). Its member, Luxolo Namette, chairs the municipal public accounts committee and often votes with the coalition, although he was not formally announced as part of it.

The opposition comprises the DA with 48 seats, PA (2), Good party (1) and the ACDP and FF Plus with their two seats each.

Addressing the media, Lobishe said she was unfazed by the no-confidence motion, particularly from Harington, whom she described as consistently negative about the coalition.

“FF Plus never had confidence in us; council voted in majority, and he was just very lost and did not participate. For me, it’s not news that he submitted the motion of no confidence; every time he stood up in council, he would be very negative. It’s a non-issue, really.”

Fighting fires on multiple fronts

At the same time, Lobishe is waging a separate battle with former Good party regional chair Siyanda Mayana.

On Tuesday, she opened an extortion case against him. She accused him of trying to extort R170,000 from her, alleging that he had promised in return to withdraw the cases he had opened against her relating to the leasing of the transformer to Coega Steels.

Police spokesperson Andre Beetge confirmed the case had been opened at the Humewood Police Station on 11 March and that it would be transferred to the Kwadwesi Police Station for further investigation.

The legal battle between Lobishe and Mayana began in January, when he opened a fraud case against her with the Hawks. Mayana accused Lobishe of receiving illicit funds in her Capitec and Standard Bank accounts, which have since been frozen.

Lobishe has vehemently denied this, stating that only her Capitec account was affected, and that it had been “paused” due to Fica requirements.

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Mayana posted the accusations on his Facebook profile, prompting Lobishe to file a defamation case against him at the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in Gqeberha.

Lobishe lost the urgency part of the matter with costs last month.

After learning that a case had been opened against him, Mayana went to the Humewood station to inquire about it.

“The officer handling the case read her statement to me, and there’s no proof mentioned about how I extorted her. She instead talks about the transformer matter, which has nothing to do with extortion. She claims I have extorted ... R170,000 [from her], which is the figure she owes me for the [part of the] case she lost in court,” said Mayana.

“I want my money from the soon-to-be ex-mayor before she is removed. The police said we are wasting their time with these frivolous cases, and I was told to write my own statement, attach the bill of costs, and submit it to them.”

Mayor claims recorded proof

Lobishe, on the other hand, said she had a recording of a conversation between Mayana and acting City Manager Ngoqo in which he asked for R170,000.

“Yesterday, I was tired of enduring his unreasonable public slander,” said Lobishe. “It has been proven more than twice that this has nothing to do with me, but with the fact that he wants to extort money from me.

“First, he said to [an ANC National Executive Committee member] that I must pay him to keep quiet. Yesterday [Tuesday], he called Ngoqo and said he needs R170,000 for him to keep quiet about the money he says I received in my bank account.

Lobishe said she stuck by her decision to lease the transformer. “I am not guilty of anything other than being guilty of making sure that 600 people don’t lose their jobs, whether they are directly employed by Coega Steels or are in their value chain,” she said.

“While I wait for the court to hear the defamation matter, I will handle this case as it is urgent because I’m really tired of Mayana, and I view him as a chauvinist because he has done this to another woman mayor, but he has never done it to another man,” said Lobishe. DM