By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) regional chair Babalwa Lobishe has been elected as the executive mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay municipality.
Lobishe was elected unopposed to the position on Thursday.
She replaces the National Alliance’s Gary van Niekerk, who resigned on Thursday in accordance with an agreement reached with the ANC.
Van Niekerk will now serve as the deputy mayor.
He still faces serious allegations of fraud after he unlawfully employed an attorney using council funds to defend his previously held position as Speaker.
He lasted longer than most mayors and completed more than a year in the position since he unseated the DA’s Retief Odendaal.
Lobishe gave an acceptance speech in which she thanked the nomination and the duties that come with it.
She listed several top goals for the incoming administration, including dealing with the effects of the recent floods, bringing power back to communities that were impacted, and filling important positions in the Metro Police.
Since the region’s substantial resources have not yet been completely used, Lobishe emphasised the importance of taking a proactive approach to economic growth.
She said she would also meet with the municipal unions to ensure the workers are on board with the Municipality’s objectives, while a new mayoral committee will be announced soon.
“We promise not to disappoint anyone and commit to the work of the City, nothing else,” she said.
The audience responded enthusiastically to Lobishe’s election. This was during a full council meeting. She was a deputy mayor at the time of her election.
Meanwhile DA leader in the Eastern Cape, Andrew Whitfield, said they had had some conversations with the ANC over a “super coalition”, but after the ANC violated their agreement in Pretoria to first form “stability pacts” in the metros, their discussions about Nelson Mandela Bay came to an end as well.
Whitfield said some of the smaller parties in the metro were playing the two big parties off against each other, and their rent-seeking behaviour did not make for stable governance.