Article

The Nel­son Man­dela Bay muni­cip­al­ity has just more than two weeks to pro­duce a cred­ible turn­around plan as it awaits the arrival of a Cogta task team to shore up its fal­ter­ing admin­is­trat­ive and tech­nical capa­city. Co-oper­at­ive gov­ernance and tra­di­tional affairs deputy min­is­ter Dick­son Mase­mola issued the instruc­tion yes­ter­day after meet­ing muni­cipal lead­ers at City Hall along­side rep­res­ent­at­ives from the National Treas­ury, the office of the premier, South African Local Gov­ern­ment Asso­ci­ation (Salga) and the Muni­cipal Infra­struc­ture Sup­port Agency.

The inter­ven­tion fol­lows a request by mayor Babalwa Lobishe for Sec­tion 154 sup­port to help sta­bil­ise the metro. The Bay is still bat­tling broken street lights and slow pothole repairs, made worse by its fail­ure to spend grant fund­ing. While there have been recent efforts to appoint con­tract­ors for repairs, the pro­cess has been slow. Mase­mola told the media on the side­lines that a team had already been assembled based on a pre­lim­in­ary report sub­mit­ted to his depart­ment. The report high­lighted crit­ical skills short­ages — includ­ing chartered account­ants and engin­eer­ing expert­ise — as well as the need to redesign the muni­cip­al­ity’s organ­isa­tional struc­ture to improve func­tion­al­ity and per­form­ance.

The Cogta-fun­ded sup­port pack­age will still need coun­cil approval. Sec­tion 154 of the con­sti­tu­tion requires national and pro­vin­cial gov­ern­ments to help muni­cip­al­it­ies carry out their func­tions.

The city first called on the province for help in 2024, when Cogta MEC Zolile Wil­li­ams seconded Mandla George to restore admin­is­trat­ive sta­bil­ity after city man­ager Nox­olo Nqwazi was sus­pen­ded.

The coun­cil, however, did not activ­ate the renewal clause in George’s con­tract after his six-month term ended in Janu­ary. Wil­li­ams then seconded Ted Pil­lay and Lon­w­abo Ngoqo as act­ing city man­ager and chief oper­at­ing officer, respect­ively, under the con­sti­tu­tional pro­vi­sion. Pil­lay has since left, with Ngoqo appoin­ted COO but is act­ing city man­ager. In a con­fid­en­tial report, Lobishe out­lined aud­itor-gen­eral SA (AGSA) find­ings related to rev­enue man­age­ment. “Other reas­ons for prob­lems iden­ti­fied by AGSA in this area are unfor­tu­nately caused or ori­gin­ate from fail­ure by other par­ti­cipants in the rev­enue man­age­ment value chain,” it said.
 

The muni­cip­al­ity was also strug­gling with the man­age­ment of its prop­erty, plant and equip­ment.

“The cur­rent poten­tial qual­i­fic­a­tion in the cur­rent year’s audit is also under this cat­egory ... and for us to ensure that we deal with the root causes of this qual­i­fic­a­tion, there is a lot of ground­work that must be under­taken.” It said sup­ply chain man­age­ment remained a high-risk area. The aud­itor-gen­eral also accused the city of mis­rep­res­ent­ing its annual fin­an­cial state­ments. However, the metro blames this on hav­ing only four account­ants to man­age an asset register worth more than R20bn. “Our other achilles heel is the huge losses suffered by both water and elec­tri­city ser­vices, res­ult­ing in fin­an­cial instabil­ity of the muni­cip­al­ity.
 

“The abil­ity to deal with these losses can be achieved through a tech­nical sup­port of highly qual­i­fied and exper­i­enced per­son­nel that can be deployed in both elec­tri­city and energy as well as infra­struc­ture and engin­eer­ing dir­ect­or­ates with the clear aim of redu­cing the losses to accept­able norms or below.

“The turn­around time of three months to fill vacan­cies is not adhered to. “The muni­cip­al­ity fills vacan­cies in excess of six months,” the report said. After the closed-door meet­ing, Mase­mola said a team — includ­ing the dir­ector-gen­er­als of Cogta and the National Treas­ury, the metro’s act­ing city man­ager and offi­cials from the office of the premier — would first develop the turn­around strategy.

The plan must be tabled at a coun­cil meet­ing sched­uled for Decem­ber 4.

“We need a plan that will be well punc­tu­ated. “A plan that will be wellde­tailed. “A plan that will respond to all the issues that have been raised in this meet­ing,” he said. The plan, he said, would have to devise a strategy to tackle the metro’s R24bn in unau­thor­ised, irreg­u­lar, fruit­less and waste­ful expendit­ure — the highest of any muni­cip­al­ity in the coun­try. The National Treas­ury has, mean­while, threatened to with­hold Nel­son Man­dela Bay’s Decem­ber equit­able-share pay­ment due to the city’s fail­ure to address the bal­loon­ing amount, com­poun­ded by the fin­ance watch­dog com­mit­tee’s inab­il­ity to meet reg­u­larly.

“The plan, work­ing together with the National Treas­ury, will have to address issues of the fin­ances of the city at length. “How do we work on a well-defined rev­enue enhance­ment strategy for the city?”

Mase­mola said the plan must also look at fast-track­ing decision-mak­ing, design­ing a pro­cure­ment strategy, improv­ing grant expendit­ure and re-engin­eer­ing the organ­isa­tional struc­ture. “So that turn­around plan will have to talk to some of those mat­ters, includ­ing the dash­board on how we actu­ally respond to mat­ters of ser­vice deliv­ery throughout the com­munit­ies,” he said.

A polit­ical over­sight com­mit­tee will over­see it.

Outlook
The council meeting on December 4, 2025, will be crucial for approving the turnaround strategy and the COGTA support package. The success of this initiative relies on addressing fundamental issues such as staffing and financial controls. If these problems are not resolved, it could lead to increased interventions under Section 139, which involves provincial administration.

Residents are encouraged to participate in forums and report any issues they encounter, such as through the municipal call center at 0800 20 50 50. While the municipality promotes important initiatives like water conservation and anti-vandalism efforts, achieving sustained progress will require accountability and proper allocation of resources.

Prayer Guidelines
1. Prayer for Wisdom and Discernment for COGTA Leaders
Pray that the COGTA task team and officials receive divine wisdom to create and implement an effective turnaround plan that clearly identifies root causes and solutions.
Prayer: "Heavenly Father, grant the COGTA leaders supernatural wisdom as they assess and intervene in municipal affairs. Help them see beyond surface issues and make decisions that bring lasting stability."
Scripture Reference: James 1:5 – "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."

2. Prayer for Unity Among Stakeholders
Pray for harmony and collaboration between COGTA, municipal leaders, National Treasury, and other involved parties, so that divisions do not hinder progress.
Prayer: "Lord, unite the hearts of all involved in this intervention—COGTA, local government, and supporting agencies. Let them work as one body to restore functionality and service delivery."Scripture Reference: Psalm 133:1 – "How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!"

3. Prayer for Provision of Resources and Expertise
Pray that God provides the necessary skills, funding, and personnel to fill critical gaps, such as in engineering and accounting, enabling efficient use of grants and resources.
Prayer: "Provider God, supply COGTA and the municipality with the experts, finances, and tools needed for this turnaround. Meet every shortage according to Your riches, so that the intervention succeeds without delay."Scripture Reference: Philippians 4:19 – "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus."

4. Prayer for Integrity and Accountability
Pray against corruption and wasteful expenditure, asking for a spirit of honesty and transparency in all dealings during the intervention.
Prayer: "Righteous Father, instill integrity in every aspect of COGTA's work. Expose and uproot any irregularities, ensuring that funds and decisions honor You and benefit the community."Scripture Reference: Proverbs 11:1 – "The Lord detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him."

5. Prayer for Overall Success and Restoration
Pray for the complete success of the intervention, leading to restored services, financial stability, and hope for affected communities.
Prayer: "Almighty God, bless COGTA's efforts with prosperity and peace. Turn around the fortunes of the municipality, bringing renewal and joy to its people as You have promised."
Scripture Reference: Jeremiah 29:11 – "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

A Prayer
Heavenly Father, we come before You seeking Your divine intervention in the COGTA efforts for Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. Grant wisdom and discernment to the leaders as they craft a turnaround plan, just as You promise in James 1:5. Foster unity among all stakeholders, that they may work together in harmony as in Psalm 133:1. Provide the necessary resources, expertise, and personnel to fill every gap, meeting needs according to Philippians 4:19. Instill integrity and accountability in all dealings, detesting dishonesty as in Proverbs 11:1. Finally, bring overall success and restoration, prospering Your plans for hope and a future as declared in Jeremiah 29:11. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

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Compiled by GAP Ministries
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