Since the ANC/EFF-led coalition seized government in Nelson Mandela Bay, it has systematically destroyed service delivery and financial stability in the city. This has crippled the municipality rendering it incapable of performing some of its most basic functions.
In November 2024, the ANC mayor, Babalwa Lobishe presented the priorities for her first 100 days in office. She announced 85 targets at the start of her tenure. Only eight have been achieved, 63 have not been achieved and 14 have been partially achieved.
Today, I was joined by DA NMB Caucus Leader, Cllr Rano Kayser, and DA NMB Caucus Spokesperson, Cllr Siyasanga Sijadu, as we delivered our Municipal Report Card and performance breakdown to provide a critical overview of the mayor and NMB’s 10 service delivery directorates. The directorates are scored on a scale of 0 to 5. Receiving a score of 5 is the highest score achievable, with 0 being the lowest. (see pictures here, here and here)
Budget and Treasury: 2 out 5 (EFF-led)
- Massive under-collection of revenue.
- Chaos at Supply Chain Management is crippling the ability to deliver services.
- Capital reserves are down by R600 million.
- The debt write-off programme is a disaster.
Corporate Services: 1 out of 5 (AIM-led)
- Majority of contracts still not in place.
- Failure to fill positions within 6 months of vacancies occurring.
- No overtime policy in place.
- High level of unpaid invoices, with threats of eviction from offices by unpaid landlords.
- Failure to finalise the macro-organogram.
Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture: 2 out of 5 (PAC-led)
- Failure to resolve the issue of manganese ore operators who continue to do business without a permit.
- No plans for the opening of the 2025 summer season.
- No incentives for investment in the city.
- Little success promoting Nelson Mandela as a tourism destination.
Electricity and Energy: 1 out of 5 (EFF-led)
- In the 2024/25 financial year, the total financial loss due to electricity theft, non-payment and other losses was R1.323 billion.
- Without a turnaround plan for electricity, the directorate will bankrupt the city.
- The amnesty programme has been a total failure.
Human Settlements: 3 out of 5 (ANC-led)
- The city is making little progress with housing delivery. The backlog remains at more than 100,000.
- The city needs to acquire land for social housing projects in order to cater for beneficiaries who do not qualify for government subsidies.
- A single open and transparent housing waiting list must be easily accessed by the public in municipal offices.
- Rezoning and other land use applications taking months to process.
Water and Sanitation: 2 out of 5 (ANC-led)
- None of the wastewater treatment works are discharging treated effluent that complies with legislated standards.
- Non-revenue water up to 57%.
- Maintenance spend at about 2% – well below the desired 8% minimum.
- Under expenditure on contracted services over the past 5 years.
- More than 8,000 water connections without meters (“straight” connections) not being addressed.
- Average backlog of 4,000 water and 2,000 sanitation complaints a month.
Public Health: 2 out of 5 (AIC-led)
- Widespread illegal dumping.
- Many of our rivers are polluted.
- Vandalism of parks and cemeteries.
- Many communities, especially in poor and disadvantaged areas, are filthy.
Roads and Transport: 2 out of 5 (ANC-led)
- Traffic lights across the metro are a massive problem.
- Streets are riddled with potholes.
- The Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS) has still not been extended to Kariega.
- Disaster projects remain incomplete after almost two years.
Safety and Security: 0.5 out of 5 (ANC-led)
- ShotSpotter has still not been implemented leading to more gang related deaths in the Northern Areas, nor expanded to other hotspot areas as promised since 2024.
- The Mobile Surveillance Vehicle is not working, removing an important tool from our daily anti-vandalism and crime prevention operations.
- The CCTV network is also not linked to the city, leaving zero cameras under Nelson Mandela Bay control despite ongoing commitments to integrate the system.
Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture: 2 out of 5 (DOP-led)
- No contract for electronic library systems in place for many months.
- Many municipal swimming pools are unstaffed and in need of repair.
- No progress being made in repairing broken and vandalised sport and beach facilities.
The combined average of 1.75 out of 5 (35%) our report card assigns to the 10 directorates, is a shocking reflection of the utter failure under the political leadership of Lobishe’s Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMCs). But the worst offender remains the mayor, who scores 0.5 out of 5 (10%) due to only delivering on eight of the 85 targets that she set when she was elected to her position. This shows how out of touch with reality Lobishe is after recently giving herself a score of 80% for the work she has done.
It is very clear that Mayor Lobishe and her ANC/EFF coalition has no clear plan to turn the city around. The DA, however, has a plan and a vision to get Nelson Mandela Bay working again.
The people of Nelson Mandela Bay deserve better than a failed mayor and unstable government, and that is only possible if all residents vote for a DA majority government in the 2026 local government election.
Together we can get Nelson Mandela Bay working again.