Motion of no-confidence in mayor not debated
The GOOD party’s notice of a motion of no-confidence in Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Gary van Niekerk was not debated at a council meeting yesterday.
Instead, the notice is expected be discussed, along with other motions, at a meeting later this month.
Speaker Eugene Jonson said yesterday’s meeting had been called to deal with conditions of the Municipal Finance Management Act which required that the midterm budget and performance assessment report be noted before the end of January.
“Regarding the National Treasury regulations, we must discuss and note the midterm budget before the end of
January,” she said.
“This is a special meeting to ensure we are compliant and in a special council meeting you do not discuss any other matter.”
Johnson said the notice calling for Van Niekerk’s removal would be discussed at another meeting this month.
“We have motions that we have received during this period [when council was in recess],” she said.
“So we have agreed that we will have another special meeting to discuss all those motions.
“We do not want other items to crowd the agenda because we will also have the auditor-general with us here today [yesterday].”
In his no-confidence motion, GOOD councillor Lawrence Troon criticises Van Niekerk’s tenure as being marred by a series of scandals that cast a shadow over his credibility.
Troon said it seemed the mayor was disproportionately focused on his appearance rather than on addressing important issues facing communities, pointing to Van Niekerk’s hairstyle and “pop star” persona.
While welcoming the postponement of the debate yesterday, Troon said the mayor’s days were numbered.
“Van Niekerk is gone, no matter how they want to bandage this thing.
“The NA will soon be in court to determine the legitimate leadership of the party.
“While Van Niekerk and his bevy have been delaying a conference, one was held.”
Van Niekerk declined to comment.