Note to Editors: Please find attached a soundbite by Andrew Whitfield MPL. Download pictures from a press conference at Gqeberha City Hall here and here.
The Democratic Alliance will be heading back to the Gqeberha High Court, this time to tackle ANC corruption, in the Nelson Mandela Bay Transformer Leasing scandal.
The transformer, which is a strategic municipal asset worth R25 million was unlawfully leased out to Coega Steels. This was done despite clear legal advice against this move. ANC Mayor Babalwa Lobishe signed off on this agreement despite being explicitly advised to refer it to Council first for authorisation. This was never done.
We have now instructed our attorneys to bring an application asking the Court to order the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to institute recovery proceedings against Mayor Lobishe, in her personal capacity, in terms of the MFMA.
The DA is turning to the courts to send a strong message to politicians that they must PAY BACK the money when there is wrongdoing.
Fighting in court for the people of Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) punishes those in power and helps the people. Frivolous motions and unstable coalitions only hurt residents.
Our court victory earlier this week against the exorbitant electricity tariffs imposed by the ANC/EFF coalition was a victory for the people. It also demonstrates that we are serious about our commitment to tackling injustice and fighting for the people of NMB.
A motion of no confidence in Council highlights that other parties are only driven by infighting and positions.
The DA is focussed on removing Mayor Lobishe and the ANC once and for all on election day so that we can deliver a stable government for five full years.
We are campaigning for an outright win on 4 November. We will not allow ourselves and the people of NMB to be held to ransom by smaller parties who will plunge the Metro into another merry go round of coalition chaos.
I believe that residents can see this motion for what it is – political point scoring by parties whose only mission is to attack the DA.
We have built a strong campaign in NMB and we have a strong mayoral candidate in Retief Odendaal. We are litigating on behalf of the residents and we are fighting to ensure that as many people as possible unite behind the DA.
That is our focus over the next three months so that we can govern and get Nelson Mandela Bay working again.