Call for new coalition crisis talks
UDM hoping to meet DA after deputy mayor called by party bosses to explain row
ATHIRD round of crisis talks to resolve the impasse within the Nelson Mandela Bay coalition is expected to take place soon, with the UDM’s national bosses hoping for a meeting with the DA leadership later this week.
This is after deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani had to explain to his superiors the latest in the conflict between him and mayor Athol Trollip.
Bobani also had to explain his reasons for opening corruption cases against city manager Johann Mettler and acting corporate services head Vuyo Zitumane.
The meeting took place in Pretoria on Saturday, according to UDM president Bantu Holomisa.
“The purpose of the meeting was for [Bobani] to brief us about the NMBM coalition government’s progress and challenges,” Holomisa said.
“It was resolved at the meeting that any perceived challenges must be attended to.
“To that end, the UDM, during the course of this week, will communicate with its coalition partners in line with our agreement, so as to attend to some of the identified challenges,” Holomisa said.
The UDM leader said the coalition was not threatened by the differences between Bobani and Trollip.
“The UDM, as a committed partner of the coalition, is confident that with our partners we will be able to iron out these procedural issues which have been highlighted in the media,” Holomisa said.
The fight between the UDM and the DA has been dragging on for months, but things came to a head towards the end of last month when Bobani opened the four cases of corruption, which he said could implicate Trollip.
DA federal executive chairman James Selfe said no meeting had yet been scheduled between the UDM and DA leadership for this week.
Bobani declined to comment about the meeting in Pretoria and referred queries to Holomisa.
Asked if he had received any feedback from the police about the cases he had opened against Mettler and Zitumane, Bobani said: “The cases are [with the ] law enforcement, hence no comment will be made now and in the future.”
Bobani was slapped with a R500 000 defamation lawsuit by Zitumane last week after he failed to respond to her demand that he pay for damages she believed was owed to her.
Zitumane is suing Bobani over his alleged defamatory claims of corruption against her and for publicly saying the way she was hired had been tantamount to corruption.
Bobani said this week he would defend the case and refused to comment further.