DA seeks to hold mayor Lobishe personally liable for R25m Coega transformer lease

Just days after being ordered to pay nearly R83,000 in legal costs for her failed bid to gag a political rival, Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Babalwa Lobishe is facing another court battle as the DA seeks to hold her personally liable for the controversial R25-million transformer lease.

Court documents obtained by Daily Maverick show Lobishe has been ordered to pay R82,970.88 after her urgent application to interdict People’s Power leader Siyanda Mayana from publishing allegedly defamatory claims about her on social media was dismissed with costs.

The latest setback for Lobishe comes as the DA prepares to ask the high court in Gqeberha to force the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to seek recovery from her personally for any losses linked to the lease, in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).

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Speaking in front of City Hall on Thursday, DA leader in the Eastern Cape Andrew Whitfield said the party had instructed its attorneys to join the municipality’s pending review application over the transformer lease and seek an order requiring the municipality to recover any financial losses from the mayor personally.

The lease of the municipal transformer to private company Coega Steel has been a thorn in the mayor’s side since October 2025.

Last year, Mayana called for inquiries into the lease agreement with Coega Steels. The lease was entered into in September 2025 for a period of 12 months. However, the metro has since taken the matter for judicial review in a bid to set aside the agreement.

‘Frozen account’

Mayana also accused Lobishe of having her Capitec account frozen owing to large tranches of money being paid into it irregularly. He registered a case with the Hawks to investigate the “freezing” of her Capitec account and the source of the “unscrupulous” funds allegedly deposited into her account.

Lobishe has, on several occasions, categorically denied insinuations of unethical activity in her account, stating that it was paused and not frozen, according to FICA regulations.

The mayor also maintained that leasing the transformer to Coega Steels was necessary to save jobs and protect the local economy. However, she conceded at Parliament’s cooperative governance and traditional affairs committee meeting in April that the lease had been irregular.

Lobishe’s R83,000 legal bill stems from her failed bid to gag Mayana over his allegedly defamatory posts.

Responding to questions about why the DA was only now pursuing legal action over a saga dating back to October 2025, Whitfield said the party had prioritised its successful court challenge of Nelson Mandela Bay’s electricity tariff hikes before turning its attention to the transformer matter.

“The DA did not proceed at the time, because the electricity tariff matter became the most pressing urgent matter for us to focus on with our resources, our time and our energy that we had available.

“Now that that matter has been dealt with, we are dusting off that briefing to the attorneys, and we’ve asked them to bring that application,” he said.

‘Consequence management’

According to Whitfield, the party had already approached its legal team shortly after its DA councillor in the metro, Ondela Kepe, wrote to acting city manager Lonwabo Ngqoqo asking that he institute “consequence management” against Lobishe.

Kepe said this week that he had received no response from the acting city manager since sending the letter in April.

Whitfield criticised the city council for not taking decisive steps to tackle what he called corruption.

“[We hope to recover] every single cent of lost revenue and any other expenses incurred. That will be the determination for the court to make, ultimately based on all the available evidence.

“What we believe is that [the leasing of the transformer] was unlawful. She was advised not to sign that resolution. She signed it and she has now implicated herself in Parliament.

“So we believe we would have a strong case and we believe it would be a precedent-setting case for a politician in Nelson Mandela Bay to be held personally liable for costs related to a very dodgy deal,” he said.

Lobishe said on Thursday that the DA was “exposing themselves” and that they “do not care about their people. They are not putting the people first”.

Lobishe has again maintained that her decision, although ill-informed according to what she said in Parliament, “was squarely for the benefit of the people”.

“And even if tomorrow I was to be woken up to choose which side I’m on, I would have chosen the side of the people. So they can go ahead.

“I still maintain I never had any material benefit from the process. It was purely for the people, nothing else. So I can’t stop them. Unfortunately, we are in a democratic state. They can go ahead,” Lobishe said.

‘December payments’

Since early January, Mayana has made social media posts about Lobishe, which she claims were defamatory in nature, relating to Lobishe’s Capitec bank account.

He mentioned specific amounts of R65,000, R80,000 and R250,000, and also alluded to an amount of R450,000, all allegedly paid into her account in December.

Lobishe, who had grown tired of constant social media attacks on her, served Mayana with court papers.

On Thursday, 19 February, Judge Shirley Tilana-Mabece dismissed Lobishe’s application for an urgent interdict against Mayana to prevent him from making what the mayor claimed were defamatory statements that damaged her reputation.

Mayana said on Thursday that while Lobishe had branded him as a “lunatic”, he would be waiting for his money to settle his legal fees.

“If anything, I am obsessed with ensuring people that we are led by people who are corruption-free. That is what I am obsessed with. If she thinks my claims are not true, why does she not go to court and prove me wrong?” he said.

Mayana maintains that the utterances he made “were based on fact” and that if Lobishe wanted to prove him wrong, she needed to come with evidence.

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“What is stated is what is stated as fact and not allegation. If she thinks my claims are not true, she must do something about it.

“I still want my money. That is a court. I do not know why she would claim I am a lunatic. That is my money. I paid legal fees. I have no reason to be obsessed with her. She is not the smartest person,” he said.

Lobishe on Thursday described Mayana as “lunatic” and someone who wished to be her.

“Mayana is really a lunatic that is crazy about me. I’m [sure about what I am saying]. He’s a lunatic, and I don’t know what his agenda is.

Maybe he wants to impersonate me, or he wants to be like me when he grows up. Maybe he’s aspiring to be me because every day he dreams about me, talks about me. I don’t know what his story is with me,” Lobishe said.

She could not say where the transformer currently was and did not say much about what her plan was for any further action against Mayana.

Meanwhile, Coega Steels confirmed on Thursday that the lease of the municipal transformer was still applicable until around the end of the first week of September.

Coega Steels said that it had taken delivery of a new transformer and that the switchover from the municipal unit was expected to take place towards the end of August or early September. DM