---
title: "Suspended Nelson Mandela Bay city manager paid R6.7m — disciplinary hearing collapses"
description: "Nelson Mandela Bay’s disciplinary hearing against suspended city manager Noxolo Nqwazi was terminated after procedural failures – she has drawn R6.7-million in salary while on suspension."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "MUNICIPAL PARALYSIS"
author: "Kyran Blaauw"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/kyran-blaauw/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-17-suspended-nelson-mandela-bay-city-manager-paid-r67m-disciplinary-hearing-collapses/"
published: "2026-09-17T21:21:11"
updated: "2026-09-18T13:21:21"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 869
---

# Suspended Nelson Mandela Bay city manager paid R6.7m — disciplinary hearing collapses

> Nelson Mandela Bay’s disciplinary hearing against suspended city manager Noxolo Nqwazi was terminated after procedural failures – she has drawn R6.7-million in salary while on suspension.

By Kyran Blaauw · Published 17 September 2026, 23:21 SAST · Updated 18 September 2026, 15:21 SAST

## Key points
- Disciplinary hearing against suspended Nelson Mandela Bay City Manager Noxolo Nqwazi terminated after chair Adriaan van der Walt found the municipality had failed to properly constitute the process – council never ruled whether the alleged misconduct was serious, nor properly authorised appointments, or the investigation.
- The ruling followed a no‑show by the municipality’s lawyers at a challenge hearing; Van der Walt said the hearing could not continue, but the metro may start again.
- Nqwazi has been on precautionary suspension since October 2023 and has continued to draw her salary – Parliament was told she was paid R6.7m between Feb 2024 and Apr 2026 – leaving the metro with a revolving door of acting city managers and mounting costs to ratepayers.
- Her criminal trial over a disputed R24.6m Covid‑era toilet contract continues. Councillors are calling for reinstatement, Cogta says managers on trial don’t automatically have to step aside and the municipality has yet to say whether it will restart or challenge the process.

## Content

More than two years after the suspension of Nelson Mandela Bay City Manager Noxolo Nqwazi, her disciplinary case has run aground. The chairperson of her disciplinary committee terminated the hearing after finding that the municipality had failed to properly constitute it.

Nqwazi has continued to draw her salary, costing ratepayers millions of rand. Parliament’s portfolio committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) heard in May that Nqwazi had been paid[R6.7-million between February 2024 and April 2026](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-05-06-who-is-running-nelson-mandela-bay-metros-city-manager-crisis-deepens/).

On Wednesday, committee chairperson Professor Adriaan van der Walt found that the municipality had failed to follow key requirements – particularly Sec­tion 5 of Local Gov­ern­ment: Dis­cip­lin­ary Reg­u­la­tions for Senior Man­agers – in bringing Nqwazi before a disciplinary hearing.

The finding came after Nqwazi on 20 July challenged the chairperson’s authority to preside over the hearing, and his finding that the disciplinary enquiry had not been lawfully constituted.

Van der Walt declined to comment, saying it was an internal matter.

### Why the hearing was terminated

The chairperson found that the council had never formally determined whether the alleged misconduct against Nqwazi was categorised as serious or less serious, as required by the Disciplinary Regulations for Senior Managers.

The council resolution authorising disciplinary action did not contain such a determination. According to Van der Walt: “In the absence of a determination that the misconduct was serious, there is no basis to convene a disciplinary hearing.”

![Suspended City Manager Noxolo Nqwazi Returns To Court Over Alleged Fraud](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/T_1VLP0PNI6y4qHHvQ2bpKaInYM=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Kyran-NoxoloNqwazi_736790.jpg)

*Suspended Nelson Mandela Bay City Manager Noxolo Nqwazi appears at the Gqeberha Commercial Crimes Court on 18 September 2024, accused of defrauding the metro of more than R24-million. (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger / Lulama Zenzile)*

Van der Walt also found that the council had not authorised the mayor to appoint an independent external chairperson and an evidence leader to lead evidence. As a result, he found that these appointments were irregular.

Van der Walt also found that the investigation that preceded the disciplinary proceedings had not complied with regulations.

[YouTube video: "YouTube video"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttqf-nhDEV8)

The ruling, however, does not prevent the municipality from starting the process again. Van der Walt said the metro could “go back to the drawing board” and follow the regulations before instituting new proceedings.

### Nqwazi paid millions while on suspension

The metro has had a revolving door of acting city managers, each occupying the office for only a few months, after Nqwazi was suspended in [October 2023, when Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana demanded that action](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-10-22-conflict-riddled-nelson-mandela-bay-places-city-manager-on-precautionary-suspension/) be taken against her over her pending criminal case as a condition for the release of R781-million in grants to the metro.

[COUNCIL CHAOS

Conflict-riddled Nelson Mandela Bay places city manager on precautionary suspension

October 22, 2023 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/58374149_10157269559658767_6240197467992752128_n.jpg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-10-22-conflict-riddled-nelson-mandela-bay-places-city-manager-on-precautionary-suspension/)

The criminal case against Nqwazi stems from her tenure as acting city manager in 2020, when the metro awarded a R24.6-million contract to HT Pelatona Projects to construct toilets during the Covid-19 pandemic.

She and former Human Settlements executive director Mvuleni Mapu are the only two accused who remain on trial after the Gqeberha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court discharged their co-accused following successful Section 174 applications in February.

Nqwazi, however, has made attempts to resume her duties. In April, through her lawyers, she wrote to the metro demanding that she be reinstated by 1 May. Even Zolile Williams, Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, instructed the metro to reinstate her. The City has yet to act on the directive.

[GUESS WHO’S BACK

Cogta rules NMB city manager suspension unlawful as metro faces leadership vacuum

May 5, 2026 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/ofQiYURxPWadT_1Y6LronJR3xi4=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/DSC_5478-copy1.jpg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-05-05-cogta-rules-nmb-city-manager-suspension-unlawful-as-metro-faces-leadership-vacuum/)

When contacted for comment on Thursday, Nqwazi said she did not speak to the media and had apparently not yet received Van der Walt’s report.

The municipality did not respond to questions about whether it accepted Van der Walt’s findings, whether it intended to restart or challenge the disciplinary proceedings, or how much the disciplinary process and Nqwazi’s suspension had cost the metro.

### Calls for Nqwazi’s reinstatement

Good party councillor Lawrence Troon called for Nqwazi’s immediate reinstatement following the termination of the disciplinary proceedings.

He said there were no grounds for preventing her from resuming her responsibilities as city manager. He criticised the amount of ratepayers’ money spent on the process, accusing the governing coalition of dragging its feet on taking action.

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“They never wanted to address this matter for the last eight months. We were begging for this matter to be presented to council, but they never wanted to. It is the people on the ground that suffer,” Troon said.

Freedom Front Plus councillor Bill Harington described the situation as “unacceptable”.

“Nelson Mandela Bay cannot afford to spend millions maintaining a leadership arrangement that leaves residents with uncertainty while the municipality struggles with basic service delivery,” he said.

“Residents pay their rates and taxes. They have a right to expect that their money is used to deliver services, maintain infrastructure and improve their communities, not to sustain years of administrative uncertainty.”

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa, in a written reply to a parliamentary question from DA MP Marina van Zyl, said he[saw no reason why municipal managers facing criminal trial should leave office](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-03-criminal-charges-dont-automatically-force-municipal-managers-to-step-aside/?dm_source=blocks-horizontal&dm_medium=card-link&dm_campaign=inform&dm_position=1). He did, however, say the final decision rested with councils. **DM**