Mandela Bay Under Siege: National Government Intervention Sparks Controversy

Key Takeaways:

• The national Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) has deployed a 10-member technical support team to Nelson Mandela Bay for six months to stabilize governance and improve service delivery.
• The team will submit two progress reports by March 2026 and will focus on areas such as strategy, senior management support, contract management, and financial management.
• The intervention follows persistent municipal failures, poor service delivery, and declining public confidence in the metro.
• The support comes as the metro awaits feedback from the National Treasury on its threat to withhold the metro’s R546-million in equitable share due to its failure to address ballooning unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure (UIFWE).
• The technical team will work to address the city’s record-setting UIFWE, which has resulted in the return of almost R1-billion to the National Treasury over the years.

Introduction to the Intervention
The national Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) has deployed a 10-member technical support team to Nelson Mandela Bay for six months to stabilize governance and improve service delivery. The team will submit two progress reports by March 2026 and will focus on areas such as strategy, senior management support, contract management, and financial management. The intervention follows persistent municipal failures, poor service delivery, and declining public confidence in the metro. Cogta invoked section 154 (1) of the Constitution, which requires national and provincial governments to support and strengthen municipalities to help them manage their affairs, exercise their powers, and perform their functions.

The Need for Intervention
The support comes as the metro awaits feedback from the National Treasury on its threat to withhold the metro’s R546-million in equitable share due to its failure to address ballooning unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure (UIFWE). The city’s record-setting UIFWE has resulted in the return of almost R1-billion to the National Treasury over the years. The technical team will work to address this issue and prevent further losses. The team was introduced before council proceedings by Cogta deputy minister Namane Masemola, accompanied by Eastern Cape Cogta MEC Zolile Williams. Masemola stated that the failures in the metro are evident in widespread service delivery disruptions, deterioration of essential infrastructure, weakened administrative capacity, recurring audit regressions, and escalating UIFWE.

Areas of Focus
The technical team has been strategically deployed in various units within the metro that need improvement to boost governance and the delivery of services. The identified units for support include strategy, senior management support, contract management, supply chain management, financial management, audit and compliance, engineering and infrastructure, and macro structure adjustment. Williams stated that part of their work is to address the city’s UIFWE and prevent the haemorrhaging of funds to the National Treasury. The team will work to ensure that the metro is functional and able to deliver better services to the people of the city.

Reaction to the Intervention
The intervention has been met with mixed reactions from councillors. Some have welcomed the support, while others have criticized it as politically motivated. Good party councillor Lawrence Troon accused Cogta of using the intervention as a pretext for seizing control of the metro rather than improving governance. DA caucus leader Rano Kayser acknowledged the officials’ willingness to appear before council but sharply criticized their track record, especially Williams’s reluctance to react to the party’s request for intervention. ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom questioned both the timing and intent of the intervention, arguing that section 154 support was meant to prevent collapse, not respond to it.

The Way Forward
Despite the criticisms, the intervention is seen as a necessary step towards restoring basic functions in the municipality. Freedom Front Plus councillor Bill Harrington stated that the condition of the metro’s infrastructure, water systems, finances, and administration has deteriorated over time, and the visit by Masemola and Williams is a necessary intervention to halt the decline and begin charting a path toward recovery. The metro requires a stable, skilled, and accountable administration, one not tied to political loyalty but to service delivery and good governance. The technical team will work to address the city’s challenges and ensure that the metro is able to deliver better services to the people of the city. ANC councillor Bongani Mani stressed that transparency had long been lacking in the administration and suggested that the 10-member Cogta technical support team do their work transparently, with reports coming to council to ensure accountability.