DISCIPLINARY DISASTER: Suspended Nelson Mandela Bay city manager paid R6.7m — disciplinary hearing collapses

More than two years after the suspension of Nelson Mandela Bay city manager Noxolo Nqwazi, her disciplinary case has run aground. The chairperson of her disciplinary committee terminated the hearing after finding that the municipality failed to properly constitute it.Nqwazi has continued to draw her salary, costing ratepayers millions. On Wednesday, committee chairperson Adriaan van der Walt found that the municipality had failed to follow key requirements in bringing Nqwazi before a disciplinary hearing.The finding came after Nqwazi challenged the chairperson’s authority to preside over the hearing.The municipality did not participate in the hearing of her challenge after its attorneys failed to show up when the matter was heard on 1 September. Later that afternoon, Van der Walt received a letter from the mayor requesting a postponement, but by that time, it was too late to consider the request.Why the hearing was terminatedThe chairperson found that the council had never formally determined whether the alleged misconduct against Nqwazi was categorised as serious or less serious, as required by the Disciplinary Regulations for Senior Managers.The council resolution authorising disciplinary action did not contain such a determination.Suspended Nelson Mandela Bay City Manager Noxolo Nqwazi appears at the Gqeberha Commercial Crimes Court on 18 September, 2024, accused of defrauding the metro of more than R24m. (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger / Lulama Zenzile) Van der Walt also found that the council had not authorised the mayor to appoint an independent external chairperson and an officer to lead evidence. As a result, he found that the appointments were irregular.Van der Walt also found that the investigation that preceded the disciplinary proceedings had not complied with regulations.The regulations require the investigator to be appointed by the council and the investigator’s terms of reference to be approved by a council resolution.Based on the evidence before him, Van der Walt found that these requirements had not been met. He concluded that the disciplinary hearing had not been properly constituted and could not continue.The ruling, however, does not prevent the municipality from starting the process again. Van der Walt said the metro could “go back to the drawing board” and follow the regulations before instituting new proceedings.Nqwazi paid millions while on suspensionThe metro has had a revolving door of acting city managers, each occupying the office for only a few months, after Nqwazi was suspended in October 2023, when Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana demanded that action be taken against her over her pending criminal case as a condition for the release of R781-million in grants to the metro.The criminal case against Nqwazi stems from her tenure as acting city manager in 2020, when the metro awarded a R24.6-million contract to HT Pelatona Projects to construct toilets during the Covid-19 pandemic.She and former Human Settlements executive director Mvuleni Mapu are the only two accused who remain on trial after the Gqeberha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court discharged their co-accused following successful Section 174 applications in February.Parliament’s portfolio committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) heard in May that Nqwazi had been paid R6.7-million between February 2024 and April 2026. Nqwazi, however, has made attempts to resume her duties. In April, through her lawyers, she wrote to the metro demanding that she be reinstated by 1 May. Even Zolile Williams, Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, instructed the metro to reinstate her. The City has yet to act on the directive.When contacted for comment on Thursday, Nqwazi said she did not speak to the media and had apparently not yet received Van der Walt’s report.The municipality did not respond to questions about whether it accepted Van der Walt’s findings, whether it intended to restart or challenge the disciplinary proceedings, or how much the disciplinary process and Nqwazi’s suspension had cost the metro.Calls for Nqwazi’s reinstatementGood party councillor Lawrence Troon called for Nqwazi’s immediate reinstatement following the termination of the disciplinary proceedings.He said there were no grounds for preventing her from resuming her responsibilities as city manager. He criticised the amount of ratepayers’ money spent on the process, accusing the governing coalition of dragging its feet on taking action.“They never wanted to address this matter for the last eight months. We were begging for this matter to be presented to council, but they but they never wanted to. “It is the people on the ground that suffer,” Troon said.Freedom Front Plus councillor Bill Harington described the situation as “unacceptable”.“Nelson Mandela Bay cannot afford to spend millions maintaining a leadership arrangement that leaves residents with uncertainty while the municipality struggles with basic service delivery,” he said.“Residents pay their rates and taxes. They have a right to expect that their money is used to deliver services, maintain infrastructure and improve their communities, not to sustain years of administrative uncertainty,” he said.Cogta Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa, in a written reply to a parliamentary question from DA MP Marina van Zyl, said he saw no reason why municipal managers facing criminal trials should leave office. He did, however, say the final decision rested with councils. DM