NMB leaders face another grilling in Parliament — this time with a slimmed-down squad

Nelson Mandela Bay’s top leadership structures are set to face another parliamentary grilling before the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) on Wednesday — this time with a notably smaller delegation.

The metro will be represented by Mayor Babalwa Lobishe, Speaker Eugene Johnson and Chief Financial Officer Jackson Ngcelwane — two days after ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa publicly praised Lobishe’s leadership during a visit to the city.

Ramaphosa’s remarks drew criticism from opposition parties, including the Democratic Alliance and Good, as well as some residents, who questioned his assessment of governance in the metro.

Wednesday’s delegation is smaller than the group of nine that attended in March, which included Deputy Mayor Gary van Niekerk, Water Director Barry Martin and Municipal Public Accounts Committee Chairperson Luxolo Namette.

Municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya on Tuesday afternoon said, “The composition of the delegation is determined by the specific requirements and focus of each engagement.

“For this appearance, the executive mayor, the speaker, and the chief financial officer constitute the appropriate and mandated leadership to represent the municipality and respond to matters before the committee.

“The municipality is satisfied that the delegation is adequately constituted to fulfil its obligations.”

At their last appearance, committee chairperson Dr Zweli Mkhize had to repeatedly prompt several officials who appeared largely speechless throughout the two-day proceedings.

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Among the key matters that the delegation will need to account for are so-called evergreen contracts, forensic investigations into controversial streetlight tenders, consequence management, and mounting unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

Lobishe is also expected to clarify ongoing issues regarding the suspended city manager, Noxolo Nqwazi, the appointment of senior officials, the contentious leasing of a transformer to Coega Steels, the CFO’s salary, and the city’s failure to respond to correspondence from the committee.

This communication failure — which was attributed to administrative shortcomings in the mayor’s office — resulted in the city forking out more than R80,000 because officials did not pay attention to their emails.

However, shortly after their appearance, Lobishe’s now suspended chief of staff, Mlungisi Lumka, penned a scathing 14-page letter detailing how Lobishe allegedly misled Parliament about the unanswered correspondence.

Lumka wrote that when he joined Lobishe’s office on 1 April 2025, he observed the mayor working through a “mountain of correspondence … busy signing without paying attention. I was horrified.

“It was clear that the handling of correspondence needed urgent attention, as the risks were obvious. I spent the following weeks addressing the backlog, which included numerous requests for information and appointments. Many letters were from frustrated stakeholders who had been seeking meetings with the executive mayor for months, only to receive no response.”

After Lumka’s damning letter surfaced, DA MP Marina van Zyl in April filed a criminal complaint against the mayor, alleging that Lobishe had misled Parliament during a previous session.

Meanwhile, an ad hoc committee comprising the ANC, DA, EFF and ACDP has been established to probe allegations that Lobishe persistently ignored Parliament’s requests for information.

The ad hoc committee’s chairperson, DA councillor Morne Steyn, said on Tuesday that the investigation has not yet been finalised, but that a preliminary report had been submitted to Johnson. DM