Africa-Press – South-Africa. A special council meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro to consider the removal of city manager Noxolo Nqwazi.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana laid down Nqwazi’s removal as one of the conditions to disburse more than R700 million in Equitable Share Grant funding owed to the municipality since July.
Executive Mayor Gary van Niekerk confirmed the special council sitting, saying its purpose was to discuss Nqwazi’s temporary suspension as city manager.
Last week, Godongwana told Van Niekerk that he would immediately release the funds on condition that the municipality takes action against Nqwazi, who is facing fraud and corruption charges.
He gave the municipality a month to do so.
A Special Investigations Unit (SIU) report flagged Nqwazi’s alleged misconduct.
President Cyril Ramaphosa initiated an investigation into alleged fraudulent activities across the country during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Following the report’s release, Nqwazi turned to the High Court to have its findings set aside. She was unsuccessful.
Godongwana subsequently asked for a copy of the court judgment and a council resolution to take steps against the city manager.
If the City fails to provide these documents, Godongwana said he would take further steps, including withholding the next Equitable Share Grant or approaching the Eastern Cape provincial executive council to intervene.
This could lead to the dissolution of the municipal council.
An official notice for a special council meeting was sent to councillors last Wednesday.
According to the notice, the meeting’s purpose is to discuss Godongwana’s letter and the pending fraud and corruption case against Nqwazi.
Political parties in the municipality said removing Nqwazi would be a massive battle, and she will not go down without a fight.
The DA’s Retief Odendaal said suspending her is not as easy as voting during the special council meeting.
Odendaal, an attorney, explained that the council cleared Nqwazi of all wrongdoing last year.
This means that the council does not have grounds to suspend her.
“Council will have to obtain a legal opinion before taking any steps in the special council meeting. If they want to remove Nqwazi, they will have to overturn their initial decision where they found no wrongdoing on her part.
“But even before that happens, a legal opinion needs to be sought to find out if they actually can do it,” Odendaal explained.
GOOD party’s Lawrence Troon said there are no legal grounds to remove Nqwazi.
He said:
Furthermore, the ACDP’s leader in the metro, Lance Grootboom, said the current coalition only wanted to “get rid of Nqwazi” because she “does not want to do what they want her to do.”
“The mayor has outstanding legal fees of half a million rand that he needs to pay, and they need to work very quickly to ensure that they can loot money from the coffers of ratepayers.
“Nqwazi is standing in their way, and now they are using the letter from the minister to remove her,” he said.
Nqwazi is on trial in the Gqeberha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, facing charges of fraud, money laundering, corruption and contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act.
The city manager and her co-accused allegedly bypassed certain processes to award a R24.6 million tender.
Van Niekerk said he was grateful that the impasse was over, but realised that the release of the funding has conditions that must be adhered to.
He added that the minister’s demands would be prioritised as there will be serious consequences if the metro does not comply.
Van Niekerk said:
“This is very concerning as it goes against ethical norms that an implicated person, alleged to have committed serious crimes, is participating in decision-making to address the alleged transgression.”
Van Niekerk reiterated that the minister’s demands will be taken seriously as the municipality cannot afford to be penalised again.
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