The Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) has filed an urgent application with the Gqeberha high court seeking an interdict to prevent the municipality from taking control of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and disrupting the daily operations of its staff.
The papers were filed late on Tuesday, with the matter set to be heard later on Wednesday.
The interdict is the first part of the application.
In the second part of its application, the agency has asked the court to declare that the service level agreement between the MBDA and the municipality was “tacitly relocated” — that is, extended by the conduct of the parties — and therefore remains fully in effect.
They have asked that any termination of the service level agreement be done with 90 days' notice.
The municipality was asked to file its notice of opposition by 12pm, failing which the interdict will be granted.
Municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said they would file opposing papers.
Mayor Babalwa Lobishe had terminated the mandate of the agency to manage the city’s world-class stadium on Friday last week, just one week before the Springboks Test match at the weekend.
Lobishe wrote to the MBDA on Friday, saying her decision was binding and would take effect immediately.
In response, MBDA board chair Glenda Perumal issued a letter later on Friday, calling for further discussions with Lobishe.
At a briefing on Monday, Lobishe refused to back down, instead insisting that the Springbok match against Italy would go ahead as scheduled on Saturday without any involvement from the agency.
The MBDA was appointed by the municipality to manage the stadium in 2016.
Its initial mandate began on January 1 2017, for three years, followed by an extension that lasted until June 2023.
Since then, the agency has continued to operate on a month-to-month basis.
The Herald
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