Integrity of metro compromised

Uproar in council meeting

THIS letter, among others, is informed by the Local Government Municipal Systems Act and in particular chapters that deal with councillor conduct and media reports.

The conduct of some Nelson Mandela Bay metro councillors at the last council meeting was not in the best interest of the municipality, and as such the credibility and integrity of the municipality was compromised. What caused this despicable conduct? I will attempt to mention a few reasons: ý The absolute hunger to cling to positions/power at the expense of service delivery; ý The appetite to occupy positions; ý The coalition government’s marriage and treatment of the UDM (divorce is painful);

ý The coalition government’s marriage to and divorce from the EFF.

Councillor Mongameli Bobani suffered pain as a result of the failed relationship with the DA.

He showed remorse and owned up publicly for his conduct at the meeting.

However, Bobani must be commended for challenging the coalition where he believed he was acting in the best interest of the municipality.

Being part of a coalition does not mean you have to condone what you deem to be the wrong. (The Life Esidimeni hearing should be a lesson to all not to follow leadership blindly even when they are wrong).

I trust whoever finds themselves in any coalition in future realises that an agreement on paper should not overrule what is right – a person’s conscience and party’s policies should supersede any agreement.

Some ANC council members voted against Jacob Zuma when they believed it was the right thing to do.

DA councillors in Cape Town recently supported their mayor against the will of their party as they believed it was the right thing to do. It is good to know that some politicians have integrity.

It appears that councillor Rano Kayser is the only person prepared to sacrifice a position.

I fail to understand the logic behind the decision to replace him.

This replacement reminds me of the quota system where in rugby, for example, one player of colour is replaced by another.

Did Kayser not put the buses back onto the road?

DA councillors from the northern areas must not allow the demotion of Kayser.

Who decided he has to go, especially as there are portfolios that underperform or are we to expect more reshuffling in the interest of diversity?

Maybe Kayser can take charge of one of the many underperforming portfolios.

Ratepayers are made to believe that mayoral council members are prepared to lose half of their salaries in the best “interest” of the metro.

Therefore, it should not be a challenge to demote some of the other members to make way for hard-working councillor Marlon Daniels.

According to the media, some DA councillors from the northern areas are not happy with the decision to replace Kayser, considering his good performance.

It appears the unhappiness of some DA councillors derailed a possible secret ballot. A secret ballot was good for Zuma. Common sense, therefore, suggests it should be good for other motions of no confidence as well.

In the interest of democracy and transparency, I request that the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality apologise in writing to the persons who were removed from the public gallery as no warning was issued to them.

With the exception of a few, smaller parties will play a vital role in the metro going forward. Unfortunately some smaller parties have lost their identity.

The message to these parties is to wake up and not be rubber stamps.

The way forward for councillors is anger management counselling, and agreeing to and adhering to rules is now important.

Embarrassed ratepayer, Port Elizabeth