Bay grants debacle heads to court

UF in bid to force National Treasury to hand over R1.5bn to city

The United Front in Nelson Mandela Bay is asking the courts to force the National Treasury to pay out more than R1.5bn in grant allocations that have been withheld.

The UF says the Treasury’s withholding of equitable shares and grants forms part of a powerplay by the ANC in the Eastern Cape to wrest back control of the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality.

Calling the Treasury’s decision unconstitutional, the UF also had another message to deliver — hands-off former acting city manager Mvuleni Mapu.

Mapu, a UF regional executive member, was arrested on August 21 on allegations of fraud and corruption linked to the human settlements department, where he was the housing delivery boss.

The municipality, however, looks keen to set things right with the Treasury, with now acting city manager Mandla George set to give a lengthy update on the issues raised by the Treasury at today’s council meeting.

George said all previous correspondence with the National Treasury that showed an adversarial tone by previous acting city managers had been withdrawn.

“The acting city manager has addressed a letter to the National Treasury in this regard,” he said.

George said a number of controversial resolutions previously adopted by the council would have to be rescinded as they would be illegal to implement.

They included that:

● Available municipal land be serviced and given to residents who can afford to build houses on it, approved by the council in December 2018;

● All historical debt owed to the municipality be scrapped, approved by the council in December 2018; and

● Bay boxer Nozipho Bell be financially supported for all her fights and be given a house, approved by the council in April last year.

According to the report to be debated in council today, legal advice was now required for a council resolution in February last year that saw all suspended staff brought back if their cases had dragged on for longer than three months.

George said the legal advice was needed as the suspended staff were all back at work.

They included Mapu, who petitioned the courts to amend his bail conditions — which included 24-hour house arrest — so he could return to work.

Mapu succeeded in his court bid last week.

At a media conference yesterday, UF regional chair Xolisile Peter said the party believed the metro was under attack from the Treasury and being held ransom by the ANC’s political agenda.

“These equitable shares or grants are not a favour to the people, especially during this time of Covid-19 and drought,” Peter said.

“The last time we held a press briefing we said the Treasury is too involved in politics and must just form a political party. ”

He said it was impossible to divorce the Treasury’s stance from co-operative governance MEC Xolile Nqatha’s threats to dissolve the council, suggesting the Treasury and the ANC were working in cahoots.

Nqatha wrote to acting mayor Thsonono Buyeye in July and gave the municipality an opportunity to motivate why the council should not be dissolved.

The letter raised three major issues — the failure to appoint a mayor, the appointment of Mapu and the Treasury ’ s threat to further cut grants.

Peter said the National Treasury was also biased against Mapu.

The National Treasury initially decided to withdraw the funds because the metro had failed to act on a report on a forensic investigation into the Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS) about three years ago, which uncovered alleged large-scale corruption and how hundreds of millions of rand had been wasted.

Thereafter, one of the National Treasury’s biggest bones of contention was the appoint

‘They [Treasury] are misusing that section [216] to withhold the funds for the people of the city ’ Lungile Mxube UF provincial secretary

ment of Mapu as acting city manager, who it said was unqualified.

The Treasury also highlighted the vacancy of the position of executive mayor, among other issues.

The hole in Nelson Mandela Bay ’ s budget is growing at an astronomical rate due to the unpaid grants, now sitting at R1.6bn.

The National Treasury has yet to pay out an equitable share allocation of R498m — most of which is meant to subsidise the Bay’s most destitute residents — and R342m worth of grants for the 2020/2021 financial year, which started on July 1.

The next scheduled payment — of R79,000 — is due for release on October 23 for the Bay ’ s IPTS.

Peter said the Treasury must release the money and, as such, the UF’s case would be heard in the high court in Makhanda on October 22. The court papers claim the Treasury’s decision is unconstitutional and will negatively affect the poorest of the poor in the metro — many of whom are supported by the Assistance to The Poor programme subsidised by one of the grants.

They also say Section 41(1)(g) of the constitution requires that organs of the state exercise their powers and perform their functions in a manner that does not encroach on the geographical, functional or institutional integrity of government in another sphere.

They say further that the grounds the Treasury is using to withhold grants do not fall within the section of the constitution that it is using as justification for its decision.

At the media conference, UF provincial secretary Lungile Mxube said they wanted the court to properly interpret Section 216 of the constitution.

“They [Treasury] are misusing that section to withhold the funds for the people of the city.

“That decision is irrational, unlawful and unethical and is based on spurious and frivolous grounds, and there was an ulterior political motive where Treasury was being used as a machine-gun by the ANC to subject the people of the metro to mass poverty and mass hunger,” Mxube said.

National Treasury spokesperson Jabulane Mulambo said they could not comment on the matter, while ANC Eastern Cape secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi rubbished claims that the Treasury and ANC were working together.

“That ’ s absolute nonsense and warrants no further commentary, ” Ngcukayitobi said.

Cogta spokesperson Makhaya Komisa said the department did not want to comment.