Church leaders urge radical change in Nelson Mandela Bay's governance ahead of local elections

In a scathing letter sent to both President Cyril Ramaphosa and Premier Oscar Mabuyane, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro’s church leaders have warned that they will urge their congregations to make “informed choices” during next year’s local government elections.

The meaning of this veiled threat is made clear in the rest of the letter. This is the first time in decades that the church has sent a public warning to a sitting local government.

In 2011, the late Bishop Desmond Tutu, at a high-level press conference, announced to the world that the church would pray for the ANC’s downfall after the government had refused the Dalai Lama a visa.

This time, the call is aimed squarely at the metro’s collapse.

Receipt of the letter and a promise to consider it was received from the premier’s office and the Presidency, but Nelson Mandela Bay communication director Sithembiso Soyaya failed to answer questions about the letter.

In March, Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance Zolile Williams appointed an acting city manager and acting chief operating officer for the metro, reportedly describing the state of local government as “an embarrassment”.

This was the second time the province had seconded an acting city manager.

Mandla George was previously seconded to the metro, but his contract was allowed to lapse. The metro’s city manager Nxolo Nqwazi, with other senior municipal officials and members of the ANC, is facing tender fraud charges in court.

On 1 April 2025, Williams appointed Ted Pillay as the metro’s acting city manager and Lonwabo Ngoqo as the acting chief operations officer.

Dysfunctional coalition government

The Nelson Mandela Bay council consists of 120 seats, with 13 political parties. The ANC is the leading party with 48 seats, but falls short of the requisite 61 to govern alone. The coalition consists of the ANC, EFF, National Alliance, African Independent Congress and the PAC, with a total of 61 seats.

The church’s letter calls on the President and premier to take radical action – dissolve the council and appoint a competent administrator to oversee governance until the 2026 elections.

Residents from Makhanda won a similar court case in 2019, but later settled the matter before the Supreme Court of Appeal could deliver a ruling. In this case, the matter was strongly opposed by both the provincial and national governments.

In April, church leaders from Makhanda led a protest against that failing municipality.

In November last year, a similar court case was brought by residents of Komani. National Treasury Director-General Duncan Pieterse agreed that it had become nearly impossible to implement a turnaround strategy in that municipality due to its council having “gone rogue”. The court has reserved judgment in that case.

Nelson Mandela Bay church leaders said in their letter that they were writing “out of the utmost concern for the dire state of affairs in our metro and the way it is impacting on lives”.

Read more: Just two streetlights fixed in 90 days in Nelson Mandela Bay’s Kariega

“We must emphasise the urgent need for the President to intervene in the political leadership of the metro, which has been dysfunctional for more than a decade. Nothing less than the dissolution of the council and placing it under administration or reconstituting it under Section 79 is required until the 2026 local government elections.”

Before President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to the metro last month, a request from the metro’s Civil Society Coalition for a meeting with him to discuss the dire situation in local government was declined.

Read more: Auditor-General’s damning findings reveal Nelson Mandela Bay’s struggles with waste and mismanagement

The church leaders cited several reasons for their call to the President:

• Economic risks: The economy and thousands of jobs in the metro are at risk due to the threat or imposition of import tariffs by President Donald Trump, especially in the automotive sector, a major component of Nelson Mandela Bay’s economy. It was clear that the council had no plan to counter this.


• Logistics crisis: Ongoing problems with the harbours and Transnet had severely affected the competitiveness of companies operating in the metro. The council had failed to engage with the institutions. The sector faced a possible strike from this week if a wage agreement with Transnet was not reached.


• Municipal finances: NMB Executive Mayor and ANC leader Babalwa Lobishe attempted on 27 March to write off R3.2-billion in unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. At the end of April, the metro wrote off R2.6-billion in water debt racked up during the drought, to bring relief to struggling households.

• Deputy mayor crisis: Lobishe was the 13th executive mayor since 2001 while Deputy Mayor Gary van Niekerk, who was suspended by the council for alleged fraud, was reinstated by Williams despite an ongoing court case where it was alleged that he had committed fraud against the same council.


• Corruption allegations: “The excessive use of deviations to tenders creates an opportunity for corruption and enriches an entitled minority while excluding the majority of businesses in the metro,” the letter said.


• Underspending: “By midyear, the municipality had only spent 29.9% of its budget. Grant funding is being returned to the fiscus. Critical vacancies within the municipality have not been filled for some time – directorates have only acting heads”,  the letter continued. In 2024, NMB lost R430-million in grant funding due to underspending.


• Leadership instability: The metro has had nine mayors since 2019. Less than 50% of the municipality’s budget was spent in 2024.


• Flood repair crisis: The letter cited that in April, the city council halted the implementation of urgent flood damage repair contracts involving R53-million after three contractors threatened a court battle with the metro due to alleged tender irregularities.

“Work on the Matanzima Bridge, which links KwaNobuhle to the town and factories of Kariega (Uitenhage), has not started a year after it was washed away, and funding was provided by the National Treasury,” the letter continued.

• Service delivery collapse: “It is estimated that over 100 service delivery contracts are currently not in place. These include job-creating work such as grass cutting, and the fixing of water leaks and streetlights. According to the municipality’s figures, the municipality attended to just 43 of the 958  complaints about street lights being out of order. During the same period, 3,787 callers to the call centre hung up because they had been kept waiting too long,” the letter said.

• Crime crisis: “The Mexican Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice (CPSC) has identified Nelson Mandela Bay as the most dangerous city in South Africa. It is ranked among the top 10 most dangerous cities in the world,” the letter said. Escalating levels of crime, especially in the metro’s Northern Areas, where gang violence was rife, were discussed in Parliament earlier in May.

The letter was signed by 17 members of the NMB Church Leader Network.

They include:

Bishop Vincent Zungu: Catholic Diocese Gqeberha; Bishop Dr William Leleki: Bishop of the Methodist Church of SA (Makhanda District); Apostle Neville Goldman: Ebenezer International; Reverend Danie Mouton: Director Synod Eastern Cape DRC; Dr Dave Pedersen: National Director Vineyard Churches SA; Bishop Themba Mahuwa: The Bishop of the Ethiopian Episcopal; Pastor Russell Viljoen: Ebenezer North; Pastor Glenn Weiss: Joy to the Nations; Pastor Victor Befile: Motherwell Ministers Fraternal; Pastor Tyrone Strydom: Church in Action (Northern Areas) Pastor Patrick Douglas-Henry: Regional Leader EC AFM; Pastor Mark Scholtz: Harvest Christian Church; Pastor Richard Crompton: Word of Faith Ministers International; Vicar General Sharon Nell: Anglican Church of SA (Gqeberha Diocese); Reverend Andile George: Moderator Presbyterian Church (Central Cape); Pastor Richard Preston: New Covenant Ministries International (NCMI) and Bishop John Vena: Coordinator of Concerned Ministers.

Organised religion in the city is not the only source of complaints. The ministers and members of civil society in the metro have formed working groups to address the most pressing issues in the region, including unemployment, youth and crime in the metro. According to Stats SA, 83,000 people in the Eastern Cape lost their jobs in the first quarter of 2025.

Read more: Residents march in droves in protest against mayor despite disinformation campaign on social media

There is national support for reform in local government. Earlier in May, the Minister of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, launched a review of the White Paper on Local Government under the theme: “Every Municipality Must Work – A Call to Collective Action.”

The launch marks the beginning of an all-inclusive and participatory policy reform process to design a modern, fit-for-purpose local government system.

Announcing the launch, Hlabisa said persistent governance, financial, structural, and administrative challenges had undermined the ability of municipalities to deliver effectively on their mandates.

“The launch of the White Paper review represents an important intervention to address these challenges and to reimagine a fit-for-purpose, resilient, and developmental local government system aligned with the country’s constitutional vision.

“Moreover, the landmark review affirms the government’s commitment to structural reform. The national launch will bring together key stakeholders across all spheres of government, traditional leadership, civil society and research institutions in a unified effort to address ongoing failures in local governance, policy implementation, service delivery and accountability,” a statement from his office said. DM