Shaheed Patel News Today

Despite two legal opinions stating the motion of no confidence against Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Retief Odendaal is invalid, speaker Gary van Niekerk is adamant that a special council meeting aimed at ousting the coalition government will go ahead on Monday — unless a court rules otherwise.

The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality’s disciplinary board has raised a red flag on how a contract for a company to act as a middleman between SMMEs and the metro went up from R17m to R51m — calling for the tender to be probed further.

It is D-Day for Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Eugene Johnson after she lost an 11th hour court bid to stop Wednesday’s council meeting, where she will face a motion of no confidence, from happening.

While Gary van Niekerk won his court case against a Northern Alliance faction last week, this did not pave the way for his return as Nelson Mandela Bay’s speaker.

After cancelling the normal tender process, economic development executive director and current acting city manager Anele Qaba has been accused of signing a deviation the very next day that ultimately led to a company being handpicked as a middleman between the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality and SMMEs.

The Bay Local Business Committee has warned that Nelson Mandela Bay municipality projects will be shut down by disgruntled SMMEs as they can no longer be controlled.

This emerged in a letter sent by UDM regional co-ordinator Siyabonga Nguqu to Johnson on January 15.

Nelson Mandela Bay SMMEs have met various municipal role players to air their frustration regarding the slow progress in incorporating them into various construction projects around the metro.

An invoice for R11m was what sparked a probe into the procurement process of a company which acted as the middleman between the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality and SMMEs.