By Sandy McCowen.
Caption: Mayor Babalwa Lobishe has roped in the services of national government to assist the municipality to carry out its mandate. (Photo: Andisa Bonani).
The Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay, Babalwa Lobishe, has survived two motions of no confidence in Council, with opposition parties failing to secure enough votes to remove her from office.
The first challenge came from the Freedom Front Plus.
Speaking in Council at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, FF+ Councillor Bill Harrington said the motion was “not brought lightly,” but stressed that residents deserve leadership that is accountable and capable of delivering basic services.
“Under the current Executive Mayor, Nelson Mandela Bay has faced serious governance and service delivery failures,” Harrington said.
Among the issues cited were the unlawful removal of critical municipal infrastructure, the freezing of bank accounts linked to allegations of fraud, and repeated water supply interruptions affecting communities across the metro.
Harrington also highlighted major electricity failures, pointing to over 200 recorded power outages since 2023, despite the metro not being subject to national load shedding.
“Businesses have suffered major losses, and residents are left in darkness,” Harrington said, calling this “unacceptable.”
The FF+ motion to remove the mayor saw 48 councillors vote in favour, while 63 voted against.
With 120 seats in council, opposition parties needed a majority of 61 seats inorder to pass the motion.
ACDP targets infrastructure neglect
Immediately following this result, a second motion was tabled by ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom, who accused the mayor of failing to exercise effective political oversight over the maintenance and management of critical municipal infrastructure.
He said the repeated collapse of electricity pylons within a short period demonstrated a systematic failure to maintain and protect the municipality’s high-voltage electricity transmission network.
Grootboom argued that despite earlier collapses and clear warning signs regarding the state of infrastructure, the Executive Mayor failed to ensure the urgent appointment of service providers to implement a comprehensive inspection, maintenance, and refurbishment programme.
He said repeated electricity outages have caused significant hardship for residents, businesses, and workers across Nelson Mandela Bay and have undermined the local economy.
The ACDP motion similarly failed, with 48 councillors supporting it and 64 rejecting it.
DA under fire for absent Councillors
In the wake of the failed votes, the DA came under sharp criticism from fellow opposition councillors for failing to hold the mayor accountable.
Seven DA councillors were absent from Council and could not vote, raising questions about the party’s commitment to oversight.
The Good Party’s Lawrence Troon said, “Those seven DA councillors are not here today, is not by accident. They were planned not to be here. And what we want the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay to know, that the DA is selling them out.”
He added, “after today, Speaker, the DA has no right to complain about anything that this government of yours does.”
Harrington also challenged the DA’s leadership, saying, “name those people that’s not here from your party. Regardless of the fact we don’t have the numbers, be honourable.”
‘No clear path to power’
Responding to the backlash on social media, DA mayoral candidate Retief Odendaal defended the party’s position: “It is a fact that the motion of no confidence was never going to succeed today. Not to install a DA government in
any event—perhaps another ANC/EFF mess. The DA and other opposition parties require 61 seats to take over government in NMB. Included in that 61 seats would have to be Gary van Niekerk’s 3 seats or support from the EFF.
We just can’t do that. We just won’t do that—it can’t be an option. Never.” said Odendaal.
‘Unfair’ Parliamentary scrutiny
While the opposition sparred over the vote, Lobishe used her address to Council to raise concerns about her treatment by the Parliamentary Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs last week, saying her
administration was not given sufficient time to present information.
“We are open to being oversighted, we are open to providing all the necessary information as long as everything will be done in terms of the rules of government without making sure that the other sphere of government is belittled in the process or is not given a fair chance in terms of the law,” she said, while also warning that social media misinformation was complicating accountability efforts.
Lobishe had been summoned to Parliament following the controversial leasing of a R25 million transformer to Coega Steels without following due process, which left the metro without a backup transformer.
Ahead of the first motion, Patriotic Alliance councillor Alvera Vos argued that the administration’s own admissions were damning: “For the first citizens of the metro to go on national TV and openly admit to irregularities in due
process is not just a lack of judgment. It is the clearest act of no confidence in their own leadership. It is an admission that the very same system meant to protect our people have been compromised. Speaker, the people of this metro have reached their limit. They are tired. They cannot anymore.”
Commitment to ‘agility’ amid ongoing pressure
The mayor further told Council: “I have, since the sitting of that committee, made sure that all the information that was sought was provided and as well, we have made sure that the necessary augmentations administratively, we’ve started to make sure that there’s agility in attending to matters that are coming into our office.
Despite this, Harrington demanded the mayor’s voluntary resignation, promising continued accountability until she is removed from office.
“We will still see you here. And you will be held accountable every day from here on. Until you are removed.” Harrington said.