Former Good party regional chair Siyanda Mayana. (photo: Andisa Bonani) With the mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay’s urgent application to gag former Good regional chair Siyanda Mayana dismissed for a lack urgency, Mayana wasted no time to double down on his previous statements accusing Babalwa Lobishe of numerous illegal activities.
Seemingly emboldened by the court verdict, it took Mayana less than 30 minutes to go live on Facebook and further antagonise Lobishe following their two-week court battle over scathing remarks he made on social media last month.
“I want the mayor to be held accountable, and I want her to go to jail. I’m not going to let go of this thing. I will let it go when Babalwa is no longer the mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay,” Mayana said.
He also claimed to have been threatened by senior ANC officials and warned to stop “interfering with the provincial programme”.
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 took to Facebook in January, questioning why Lobishe’s Capitec bank account had been frozen after several large sums of money were allegedly deposited into it.
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.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ED_560569.jpg "Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor Babalwa Lobishe. (Photo: Lulama Zenzile / Gallo Images / Die Burger)")
He also accuses Lobishe of leasing a R25-million municipal transformer to a private company Coega Steels, without a council resolution and after she was advised against the move by the metro’s chief executive officer, Jackson Ngcelwane, last year.
Read more: ANC demands answers from their own mayor over Nelson Mandela Bay's R25m transformer scandal
In October 2025 Nelson Mandela Bay’s acting city manager, Lonwabo Ngoqo, announced that the metro would take the lease agreement for the transformer to the high court for judicial review.
The Hawks confirmed Mayana’s claims that he had approached their Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit in Gqeberha and registered a case for investigation, leading to a formal inquiry into Lobishe’s accounts.
Read more: Nelson Mandela Bay mayor says hair sales, not illicit funds, triggered Capitec compliance check
When Lobishe’s application for an interdict first came before the Gqeberha High Court two weeks ago, an interim interdict was granted pending the finalisation of court proceedings. It barred Mayana from making any further accusations against Lobishe.
In her judgment on Thursday, Tilana-Mabece said there was a “lack of urgency” and dismissed Lobishe’s application with costs.
During a live video feed on Facebook, Mayana said Lobishe now owed him “hundreds of thousands of rands” because of the legal fees he incurred to fight her interdict.
“I went through hell for the past two weeks trying to get together finances because of this frivolous application.”
Mayana said he stood by his statements and refused to apologise for anything he had said or to take down his social media posts about Lobishe.
In an affidavit contained in Lobishe’s interdict application, filed on 6 February, Lobishe argued through her lawyers, Vimba and Associates, that she ran a small business selling synthetic hair.
“The respondent alleges that my personal bank account was frozen and implies that such circumstance is indicative of corruption or financial impropriety on my part,” according to the motion.
“I confirm that I lawfully conduct a small business as a form of income generation, including the sale of retail products such as hair. There is nothing unlawful, unethical or improper about a public representative conducting a small business, provided that it is lawful and properly declared where required.”
But on Thursday, Mayana said: “No hair is being sold here. She knows where she received money. You know where you received money, Babalwa.”
Mayana made further assertions that senior ANC members were trying to intimidate him into dropping his public feud with the mayor.
He said after attending a funeral recently, he met several ANC officials for a social event at a popular beachfront restaurant in Summerstrand, Gqeberha. While at the event, a man he described as looking like a “gangster”, but who, he said, he later learnt was a high-ranking ANC official, called him aside.
“He said to me, ‘Chief, you must stop what you are doing, otherwise you are going to be dealt with harshly.’ [...] I asked him what am I doing, and he said, ‘You are disrupting the programme of the province’.”
Despite his claims of intimidation and threats, Mayana said he would continue to work closely with the Hawks. He said he received feedback on Thursday morning that Lobishe, and possibly others, will be charged soon.
Mayana said he was happy that the court dismissed Lobishe’s application and “attempt at intimidation” and said he would continue to call her, and other officials, out on questionable behaviour.
“The people of South Africa are entitled to criticise public office bearers, and Lobishe is no exception. I stand by my statements and I will continue to raise issues like these as they arise,” Mayana said.
Lobishe did not respond to messages or calls for comment. DM