The inaugural Nelson Mandela Bay Council meeting was called off at the last minute on Wednesday following a directive from the Eastern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA).
The 120 councillors-elect arrived at the Feather Market Centre in Gqeberha dressed up for the special occasion as they were expecting to be sworn in, however, the meeting was quickly postponed by the Metro's Acting Municipal Manager, Anele Qaba, who referred to a letter he received from the COGTA MEC, Xolile Nqatha.
The letter, seen by Algoa FM News, states that Qaba's contract as an acting municipal manager ended last month, therefore he had no authority to preside over the meeting in terms of the Municipal Structures Act.
The Executive Mayor of the Metro, Nqaba Bhanga extended the contract, but this, according to COGTA was done without council resolution.
MEC Nqatha said the appointment was illegal and therefore Qaba had no authority to convene the meeting.
After speaking to councillors on Wednesday morning, Qaba decided to postpone the meeting.
He, however, said that he had also sought out legal opinion which advised him that he had the authority to preside over the meeting but he had decided against this to avoid issues of legality and in the spirit of intergovernmental relations.
"I thought let's work together just to ensure that there are no issues or queries around the legalities [of the meeting] because what we don't want is the first council to be elected but legal issues are hanging over it," Qaba said.
He said the decision was in the interest of the residents adding that it ensures that there is stability in the Metro.
Meanwhile, South African Local Government Association (SALGA) chief of operations, Lance Joel, says the last-minute cancellation could have been avoided.
Joel says while he agrees on the legal aspect of the matter, the meeting could have been cancelled earlier.
He says Salga received an invitation to the meeting a week ago.
"It is a concern that it takes that long to communicate a position when it was known for a while unless provincial government is saying to us they only became aware [of the meeting] last night," Joel added.
Joel said that this was a clear indication of a collapse in communication between the provincial government and Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality adding that fruitless and wasteful expenditure had been incurred.
Some political parties were also up in arms over Qaba's decision to cancel the meeting.
The Democratic Alliance mayoral candidate, Nqaba Bhanga accused the provincial ANC government of interfering with the meeting.
Bhanga said despite reaching consensus with other political parties to put the needs of residents first, the ANC is clearly not on board.
Meanwhile, Abantu Integrity Movement (AIM) leader, Mkhuseli Jack says they are disappointed that the council meeting did not go ahead.
He says he hoped the ANC would champion along to bring speedy service delivery and stability to the metro.
Jack says while they hoped that the liberation party would not indulge in such childish conduct, they are ready for Monday.
The inaugural council meeting has been rescheduled to take place next week Monday.
