The ANC says it will effect more changes in Nelson Mandela Bay's Mayoral committee, including restructuring several Directorates, as it looks to hold onto the Metro in next year's Municipal elections.
This follows the announcement yesterday by the party's Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe, that the President of the South African Football Association, Danny Jordaan was installed as the new Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay.
Mantashe made the announcement at Nangoza Jebe Hall in Port Elizabeth yesterday afternoon, where Deputy President Cyril Ramphosa was addressing ANC branch structures.
There will also be a new Deputy Mayor in Bicks Ndoni and a new ANC Chief Whip in Litha Suka.
ANC National Spokesperson, Zizi Kodwa, says Jordaan is a natural fit for the position of Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor as he and his family have strong roots in the city.
"Danny Jordaan is a loyal member of the ANC and he was a member of Parliament after the first democratic elections and he comes from Nelson Mandela. He is not a stranger. He will make sure that we accelerate service delivery in the area" he said.
Metro spokesperson Roland Williams says the three newly elected leaders will be sworn in at a special council meeting in due course.
"The feeling that we certainly got from Gwede Mantashe is that the processes will move very quickly, because they have taken quite a long time in debating and discussing it internally. They believe they have made the right decision and would want it implemented ASAP" he said.
In reaction, the DA said the ANC's decision to install Jordaan as new mayor in Nelson Mandela Bay, was nothing more than a pre-election gimmick by a party that had lost the confidence of the people.
The DA's mayoral candidate for the Metro, Athol Trollip...
"His biggest challenge is going to be working with a dysfunctional ANC. We have seen in the other Metro cities in the province where they have had 5 mayors in the last 10 years in Buffalo City. Nothing has changed. Until you do something about the cause rather than the symptom, nothing is going to change. We believe in order to change you have to replace the ANC government with a DA government" he said
