Politics

Hundreds of supporters of the Bay's coalition government gathered outside the Gqeberha High Court on Friday morning where an urgent hearing took place on the merits of the Section 12 amendment. The amendment's goal was to change the Mayoral executive system in Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) and was Gazetted by the MEC of Traditional Affairs Zolile Williams, earlier this month.

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.

The Gqeberha High Court has granted an urgent hearing on the merits of the Section 12 amendment which would see a change in the mayoral executive system in Nelson Mandela Bay. This is according to the Metro Executive Mayor, Retief Odendaal who lodged an opposing urgent application together with the Democratic Alliance. The Eastern Cape Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Zolile Williams, signed a notice to scrap the system of governance in the Metro earlier this month.

Cyril Ramaphosa has been re-elected President of the ANC at the party's 55th national conference at Nasrec in Johannesburg. It was a two-horse race against former health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize but the President took the vote quite comfortably in the end.

Western Cape Judge President, John Hlope, has been suspended by President Cyril Ramaphosa pending a decision of the National Assembly. This was after the Judicial Services Commission recommended that he be suspended amid misconduct findings which opened up an impeachment process in Parliament.

Eastern Cape Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has signed the notice to scrap the mayoral executive system in Nelson Mandela Bay. This means that a collective executive with a participatory ward system will take powers away from the mayor and allow a new committee to run the city.

The National Assembly's Programming Committee (NAPC) has decided to defer the consideration of the Section 89 Panel report on Phala Phala to the 13th of December. Spokesperson Moloto Mothapo says an urgent meeting was convened on Monday where it was decided that next week's meeting will be fully physical with no provision for virtual participation.

Retired chief justice, Sandile Ngcobo, has presented his report into the probe into the Phala Phala scandal swirling around President Cyril Ramaphosa, to the Speaker of the National Assembly.

Factional politics within the Defenders of People (DOP) could threaten the current Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality coalition government. A small group of DOP members stormed into the Gqeberha City Hall on Monday to demand that the City Manager remove two of their councillors who were sent letters of expulsion.