Nelson Mandela Bay effectively has no executive mayor, troika or executive mayoral committee in place.
That's because the acting city manager, Selwyn Thys, in compliance with the gazetting of a Section 12 notice by Cogta MEC, Zolile Williams, has advised that the executive mayoral system is now redundant.
Earlier this month the MEC signed the notice to amend Section 12 which would change the governance system of the Metro to a collective executive committee with a ward participatory system.
This advice is contained in correspondence seen by Algoa FM News sent to the mayor, his deputy, the Speaker as well as the Chief of Council and political parties on Tuesday.
He said until such time that Council has been convened to appoint an executive committee and mayor pursuant to the Section 12 notice, the current delegations and administrative powers reside with the office of the City Manager.
Thys said he intended to convene a Council meeting on the fourth of January to ensure compliance with the gazetted notice.
Meanwhile, Retief Odendaal has already turned to the courts to challenge the Section 12 amendment and this will be heard next Friday, the 30th of December in the Gqeberha High Court.
The court hearing will be divided into two parts with part A dealing with an interim relief to have the amendment of Section 12 put on pause until the main part of the application is finalised.
Part B of the case will deal will challenge the MEC's decision to change the municipality' system of governance.
"We will argue that not only is the MEC’s decision politically motivated, but the reasons he has given for his decision are irrational and have no merit. The ignoring of the declaration of an intergovernmental dispute regarding the amendment will also be argued," Odendaal said.
Meanwhile, the DA's Provincial Leader Nqaba Bhanga says the party has decided to join the application by the Municipality.
Bhanga says the ANC is using the MEC to get back into power using the back door.
"This farce must be condemned in the harshest possible terms. This has nothing to do with service delivery and everything to do with a dying organisation desperately trying to cling to power so it can continue to loot state resources," he added.
