---
title: "Council meeting collapses, delaying decision on suspended city manager paid R6.7m and counting"
description: "After armed guards were deployed to prevent suspended Nelson Mandela Bay city manager Noxolo Nqwazi from entering City Hall last week, a council meeting to debate her future has failed to reach a quorum, delaying the matter to after the November elections."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "UNCOOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE"
author: "Andisa Bonani"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/andisa-bonani/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-29-council-meeting-collapses-delaying-decision-on-suspended-city-manager-paid-r67m-and-counting/"
published: "2026-09-29T23:25:49"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 1237
---

# Council meeting collapses, delaying decision on suspended city manager paid R6.7m and counting

> After armed guards were deployed to prevent suspended Nelson Mandela Bay city manager Noxolo Nqwazi from entering City Hall last week, a council meeting to debate her future has failed to reach a quorum, delaying the matter to after the November elections.

By Andisa Bonani · Published 30 September 2026, 01:25 SAST

## Key points
- Nelson Mandela Bay’s council meeting was called off after most ANC councillors stayed away, reportedly following a regional working committee instruction.
- The meeting was due to debate suspended city manager Noxolo Nqwazi’s reinstatement after a disciplinary committee found serious procedural flaws and cleared her.
- DA councillor Rano Kayser accused the ANC of a political boycott, while the Good party’s Lawrence Troon alleged ANC-DA collusion to block Nqwazi’s return.
- The council will now go into recess until after the 4 November local government elections — leaving ratepayers to foot the bill for the abandoned meeting.

## Content

Nelson Mandela Bay’s final scheduled council meeting before the November elections failed to reach a quorum after ANC councillors stayed away, delaying a debate on the disciplinary committee’s ruling that cleared the way for suspended city manager Noxolo Nqwazi to return to work.

Nqwazi drew R6.7-million in salary between February 2024 and April 2026 while on suspension. The meeting’s collapse leaves the municipality’s unresolved leadership standoff to the incoming council.

DA caucus leader Rano Kayser claimed the meeting had been deliberately derailed after the ANC decided not to have its councillors attend.

### ‘ANC meeting divided’

Two ANC insiders confirmed to Daily Maverick that the decision had been taken at a divided ANC regional working committee meeting where some members had called for Nqwazi’s return while others – including mayor Babalwa Lobishe – were against it.

The council meeting came days after [armed guards were deployed at City Hall to prevent Nqwazi from entering the building](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-24-armed-guards-deployed-to-bar-suspended-city-manager-from-entering-nmb-premises/) following the disciplinary ruling. The municipality has maintained that the ruling did not reinstate her or lift her suspension.

Fewer than 10 ANC councillors attended Tuesday’s council meeting. Many opposition councillors were present, although several seats on those benches were also empty.

Council speaker Eugene Johnson told councillors that Lobishe had submitted an apology, along with several councillors from different political parties.

“We received apologies from various political parties that indicated they won’t be able to attend because of the elections. The executive mayor is not here as well; she submitted an apology. So it’s clear that the meeting does not have a quorum,” she said.

“I must just inform the council that the troika (mayor, speaker and chief whip) received letters from the attorneys of the suspended city manager which were going to be tabled in today’s meeting.”

Johnson said the letters and other items on the agenda could not be dealt with because there was no quorum. She noted that Lobishe, who had submitted a report on Nqwazi, was absent. The meeting was then adjourned.

![Noxolo Nqwazi](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/HeVmtMO7wCpBmxOBBxI1algc8sY=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Kyran-NoxoloNqwazi_122242.jpg)

*Suspended Nelson Mandela Bay city manager Noxolo Nqwazi. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)*

Johnson said council would now go into recess, with no further meetings until a new government was formed after the 4 November local government elections.

The meeting was called off after food, water and drinks had been procured, with tea and coffee served in the morning, live-streaming services sourced, the hall hired, security officers deployed and officials who left their workstations to attend.

Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, Good party councillor Lawrence Troon said he had spent years accusing the ANC and DA of working together – he said the day’s events had vindicated him.

![Lawrence Troon](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/z_iONDzUJtdDLi0wTRt5k4SemKQ=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Andisa-Quorum2_859498.jpg)

*Mayoral committee member for safety and security Lawrence Troon. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)*

“I have been saying the DA is in bed with the ANC, and the truth has a funny way of revealing itself. Today is the day we are supposed to bring back the suspended city manager because she has been cleared by the disciplinary committee. As you can see, the DA brought some of their councillors while others are absent, while on the ANC side it’s just empty.”

Troon said Nqwazi should return to work because there were no longer any disciplinary charges against her. He said the disciplinary committee had been due to convene earlier this month, but municipal officials and lawyers had failed to attend, resulting in the disciplinary proceedings being terminated.

[MUNICIPAL PARALYSIS

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

September 17, 2026 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/JxJRleV9ucgBRJ4N0GOX-yYh4OQ=/450x0/smart/file/attachments/orphans/Kyran-NoxoloNqwazi_122242.jpg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-17-suspended-nelson-mandela-bay-city-manager-paid-r67m-disciplinary-hearing-collapses/)

Last week, acting city manager Lonwabo Ngoqo gave strict instructions to staff in a confidential internal correspondence to senior management not to discuss the matter with Nqwazi, interact with her or take instructions from her should she return to work.

![Acting city manager Lonwabo Ngoqo](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/6Qb74VKhdVZjS5fLm8cvgkHovNU=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Andisa-Tariff_754866.jpg)

*Acting city manager Lonwabo Ngoqo (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger / Lulama Zenzile)*

Ngoqo told staff that the municipality rejected the disciplinary committee’s ruling and did not accept Nqwazi’s return to duty or presence at municipal offices.

He said she should not assume that she was entitled to report for duty, have access to municipal premises in her capacity as city manager, or exercise any powers associated with that office, pending the municipality’s determination of the steps it intended taking.

Ngqoqo’s correspondence came after the disciplinary committee chaired by 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 hearing.

The DA’s Kayser said the council meeting had failed to convene because of a decision taken at an ANC regional working committee meeting on Monday night.

“A decision was taken last night in the ANC’s RWC (regional working committee) not to have this meeting. The reason there’s no ANC councillors here is because that decision was communicated.

### ‘A political decision’

“Now you want to pretend that the meeting collapsed because of the absenteeism of the mayor. This was a political decision, and you must bear the costs because the ratepayers paid for this. You are running away from discussing critical issues.”

While Kayser was speaking, ANC councillor Yolisa Pali called a point of order.

“Speaker, can you please ask councillor Kayser to withdraw the issue of the RWC. He is not a member of the ANC. Even if he has got his spies who are leaking information of the meeting of the ANC, he has no right to speak about what was discussed in that meeting.

“He must withdraw that, or else we will have to change the language as this is our last council meeting,” she threatened.

In response, Kayser said: “I withdraw that fact.”

Responding to Troon’s statement on the DA, Kayser said his party was not led by Troon and therefore did not take advice from him.

![Rano Kayser](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/v_pJxgPq1iwC0VvnNU7Pkaeq9cA=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Andisa-Quorum3_895350.jpg)

*DA councillor Rano Kayser. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)*

“The DA is present; what he doesn’t understand is that for council to table items, you need the mayor. It has come to our attention that she is not here,” he said, adding that the collapsed meeting amounted to fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

“The meeting not continuing is not because of the DA, but the mayor and her executive who are absent in a duly scheduled meeting by the speaker,” he said.

Kayser said council rules of order made provision for councillors to attend either virtually or physically.

“How do we run away from the Nqwazi matter when the DA was vocal to say the charges against her were trumped up?

“Ratepayers’ money has been wasted here, and there is no political accountability. The ANC is in a coalition which makes them the majority with their partners as they have 65 combined seats; what is the obsession with the DA?

“They are supposed to reach \[a\] quorum without the opposition. The people who must account are the 60 councillors of the ANC who have boycotted this meeting, including the mayor. In the council agenda of the last three meetings there’s been items on Nqwazi, and there’s been no report on the matter.”

Asked whether the DA would vote for Nqwazi to return if the matter were to be discussed at council, Kayser said: “The ruling says there’s no disciplinary charges against Nqwazi. So yes, we have to, because the DA believes in the rule of law and the disciplinary committee found there were procedural flaws. As a result, we can’t go against the ruling.” **DM**