Showdown over future of Nelson Mandela Bay city manager expected on Thursday
A new Nelson Mandela Bay city council meeting was called for Thursday, a week earlier than planned, with political pressures rising for a decision on city manager Dr Noxolo Nqwazi's future within the metro.
The fallout from last week's meeting, which was scheduled to discuss the issue but abandoned because the reports were 'not ready', continues.
ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom has written to the acting city manager, Ted Pillay, to ask why money spent on the abandoned meeting should not be classified as fruitless and wasteful expenditure. He said the abrupt abandonment of the meeting was 'deeply concerning'.
Meanwhile, a legal opinion provided to the Nelson Mandela Bay metro by advocate Olav Ronaasen SC has advised the council to abandon its disciplinary hearing of Nqwazi.
She was put on precautionary suspension in late 2023 and again in early 2024, pending disciplinary action which had been instituted against her.
Ronaasen said he has been asked to advise on the viability of the disciplinary proceedings against Nqwazi and the status of the criminal proceedings against her to enable the council to reach an informed decision as to whether it should persist with the disciplinary proceedings or withdraw them and continue to pursue a settlement with her, in terms of which her employment with the municipality would terminate.
The disciplinary hearing against her has been put on hold pending negotiations for a settlement, but the National Treasury has refused to approve a departure which would allow a settlement to be paid, suggesting that the disciplinary proceedings should first be pursued to completion.
Nqwazi was arrested by the Hawks in September 2022, along with the metro's former human settlements director Norman Mapu, businessman Xolani Masela, his spouse Nwabisa, former Democratic Alliance councillors Trevor Louw, Neville Higgins and Victor Manyathi, and Nelson Mandela Bay ANC secretary Luyolo Nqakula.
They face charges of corruption, money laundering, fraud and contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act. It is alleged that kickbacks for a toilet tender awarded during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic were used to reward Louw, Higgins and Manyathi for voting for a motion of no confidence against former DA mayor Athol Trollip.
However, an application is pending for Nqwazi to be discharged after the close of the State's case, with her legal team arguing that the State had failed to lead any evidence against her.
Different charges
She is facing different charges at her disciplinary hearing.
It is alleged that she misled the council by failing to disclose that a PWC forensic report did not support allegations of financial misconduct against Anele Qaba — now CEO of the Mandela Bay Development Agency — which meant his suspension was unwarranted and should have been lifted.
Nqwazi's alleged failure, according to Ronaasen's opinion, was that she did not fully inform the council of the situation, which resulted in unauthorised and wasteful expenditure when a R3-million settlement was paid to Qaba.
The second charge against her is that she unsuccessfully took a Special Investigating Unit report about the toilet tender on legal review, resulting in unauthorised and wasteful expenditure for the municipality.
However, Ronaasen pointed out that Nqwazi performed both of these tasks under instruction from the council. As a result, he said, there was little chance of the disciplinary proceedings succeeding.
He advised the council to revisit its decision, withdraw the proceedings (subject to the Treasury's approval), and formalise the in-principle settlement reached with Nqwazi.
'It would be financially irresponsible to pursue prolonged disciplinary proceedings,' he said.
'I suggest that this opinion be submitted to the National Treasury as part of the municipality's motivation as to why the disciplinary proceedings should be withdrawn.'
However, Deputy Mayor Gary van Niekerk — who was frequently in conflict with Nqwazi during his tenure as mayor — said in a media statement issued on Tuesday that the city was at a crossroads 'for clean governance, accountability and the rule of law'.
He issued the statement just a day after Executive Mayor Babalwa Lobishe said in a memorandum that all communications from the political leadership in the metro must go through her.
She did not respond to a Daily Maverick request for comment.
'Efforts by opposition actors to engineer the return of suspended (and criminally charged) municipal manager Noxolo Nqwazi risk reversing the progress made towards stabilising governance in the metro,' said Van Niekerk.
'Legal wrangling over her suspension has dragged on while she has continued to draw a salary, and contests over her status have become a rallying point in broader power plays in council.'
Van Niekerk himself is facing criminal charges after allegedly using a council letterhead to obtain legal services for himself while he was speaker of the council — after Nqwazi had declared his seat vacant due to disputes in his former party, the Northern Alliance. He was found guilty at a disciplinary hearing, but earlier this week the MEC for cooperative governance, Zolile Williams, decided against removing Van Niekerk as a councillor and instead issued a reprimand.
Van Niekerk said the legal fees for Nqwazi's disputes with the council had reached R800,000, while 'the municipality spent more than R5-million paying her salary and those of successive acting city managers appointed during her suspension'. DM
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Nqwazi was arrested by the Hawks in September 2022, along with the metro's former human settlements director Norman Mapu, businessman Xolani Masela, his spouse Nwabisa, former Democratic Alliance councillors Trevor Louw, Neville Higgins and Victor Manyathi, and Nelson Mandela Bay ANC secretary Luyolo Nqakula. They face charges of corruption, money laundering, fraud and contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act. It is alleged that kickbacks for a toilet tender awarded during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic were used to reward Louw, Higgins and Manyathi for voting for a motion of no confidence against former DA mayor Athol Trollip. However, an application is pending for Nqwazi to be discharged after the close of the State's case, with her legal team arguing that the State had failed to lead any evidence against her. DM
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Defence attorney Pierre du Toit successfully argued that there was no evidence of fraud, deception, or intent to mislead SARS Image: Supplied The State's long-standing corruption case against businessman Vimpie Phineas Manthata suffered a major blow this week when the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court acquitted him and his co-accused in a R19 million tax fraud case that had formed a central pillar of the broader 'blue lights' procurement scandal. The verdict, delivered by Magistrate Phindi Keswa, saw Manthata, his company Instrumentation for Traffic Law Enforcement (ITLE), and bookkeeper Judy Rose cleared of all charges related to alleged violations of the Tax Administration Act during the 2018 and 2019 tax years. Legal experts say the State's inability to prove its SARS case beyond a reasonable doubt will now put additional pressure on the corruption trial, which has already faced years of delays, procedural blunders, and accusations of political motivation. 'The prosecution could not distinguish between clerical mistakes and criminal conduct,' Magistrate Keswa ruled. 'Assumptions and administrative discrepancies cannot be used to build a case without clear evidence of intent.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ SARS Case Unravels The SARS prosecution had alleged that Manthata's company manipulated its tax returns to avoid paying nearly R19 million in VAT and other obligations. But defence attorney Pierre du Toit successfully argued that there was no evidence of fraud, deception, or intent to mislead SARS.'This case is not about millions of rands, it is about millions of assumptions,' Du Toit told the court during closing arguments. 'The burden is on the State to prove guilt, and it has failed to do so in spectacular fashion.' He cited landmark cases including *State versus Prinsloo* and *State versus Futche*, which require a demonstration of clear intent to commit fraud — a standard the court agreed had not been officials admitted under cross-examination that they had no direct proof of falsified entries, and Rose testified that all bookkeeping was done using standard software and practices. Implications for the Blue Lights Trial The collapse of the tax case undermines the State's broader narrative in the so-called blue lights corruption case, in which Manthata, former acting national police commissioner Kgomotso Phahlane, and ten others face charges linked to the irregular procurement of emergency police equipment worth R191 million. The State had portrayed ITLE as a central vehicle for corrupt payments, with the SARS case meant to illustrate how the company allegedly misrepresented its financial affairs. Now, with the tax fraud allegations discredited, the entire corruption case may be on shaky ground. Last week, the same court postponed the blue lights trial yet again — this time to October 2025 — after severe criticism of the State's inability to produce a coherent charge sheet more than seven years after the case was first opened. Growing Criticism of the Prosecution Magistrate Ashika Ramalal lambasted the prosecution's handling of the case, saying the delays and repeated administrative errors were unacceptable. Still, she ruled that the trial would go ahead next year, warning that no further postponements would be tolerated. Defence attorneys argued that their clients had suffered severe prejudice and that the continued delays were violating their right to a fair and timely trial. Accused number 9 was even left without legal representation at one point, prompting the State to suggest separating the charges — a proposal strongly opposed by the defence. The situation has been further complicated by the State's repeated failure to serve Phahlane properly and controversy over the dropping and reinstatement of charges against Manthata, a move legal observers say sets a dangerous precedent. But with one major case already dismissed and serious doubts now hanging over the remaining charges, many are questioning whether the blue lights corruption trial will ever result in a conviction, or if it is yet another politically entangled case destined to collapse under the weight of its mismanagement.
