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Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Babalwa Lobishe is facing an explosive backlash from her chief of staff, Mlungisi Lumka, who has accused her of scapegoating him and lying to parliament as the city spirals deeper into crisis under her watch.
In a blistering submission opposing his suspension, Lumka said he had been reduced to a political buffer and sent to confront violent protests, absorb public anger and stabilise crises.
This came, he said, as the city’s finances collapsed, infrastructure failed and governance deteriorated.
He accused her of repeatedly failing to attend crucial meetings with stakeholders, leaving officials to account for her absence.
He also alleged that her absence disrupted internal processes, with the mayor disappearing at critical moments and failing to provide direction, contributing to administrative breakdowns — including the handling of correspondence to parliament.
Lumka claimed this pattern reflected erratic leadership and deepening governance challenges already faced by the city.
He further accused her of having instituted a written gag order that prevented him from speaking during meetings.
At the postponed ANC conference in KuGompo City on Saturday, Lobishe said the issue was an internal matter.
“It will be dealt with internally,” she said.
“[Lumka’s letter] is quite unprofessional and contains lots of misinformation.
“I am still consulting.
“Lawyers will handle this.”
Lumka faces suspension after Lobishe had a fallout with the co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) portfolio committee last week.
Lobishe came under fire from the committee for missing parliamentary deadlines and failing to respond to repeated official correspondence.
She blamed Lumka and her personal assistants for the lack of response.
Lobishe accused Lumka of gross dereliction of duty in her letter, saying he had failed to advise the committee and prepare its responses.
This, she said, had brought the metro into disrepute and led to wasteful expenditure.
Lumka sent his letter in response to the intention to suspend him on Thursday.
In his leaked letter, Lumka said he had received a poorly drafted notice of intention to suspend him via WhatsApp.
“When I received your letter, I wrote back to you and said that I would make my submission as a legal requirement, but that it is something I am extremely reluctant to do.”
Lumka said he was reluctant to respond as it would ignite a public fight.
“This moment has reminded me of an adage: ‘Never wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and the pig likes it.’
“There was something disturbingly gutter[-like] about your behaviour in front of the portfolio committee ...
“I have seen you doing this to other people before, both my colleagues and external stakeholders.
“I remember how you rudely chastised Jan Hattingh from the National Treasury when, at a mayoral committee workshop on February 12, he asked a necessary leadership question, ‘Does the NMB political leadership believe it is equal to the challenge facing the city’?”
“This challenge is the fact that we are a city in a chronic state of decline.
“He asked this question because under your leadership, the municipality’s performance dashboard is flashing red on almost every performance indicator, namely governance and leadership, financial performance and sustainability, service delivery and economic development.
“You became the face of entropy this week.
“You could have chosen differently.
“You lied in parliament as though you have some impunity insurance that allows you to act without consequence.
“Tolerating it will amount to complicity.
“I set out to demonstrate that your notice is a red herring.
“It is a decoy meant to deflect attention from the real issue.”
He said that at the committee meeting her alleged incompetence and chronic tendency to duck responsibility were on display.
“Both your incompetence and character flaws, which were exposed this week, not for the first time, are a fatal combination in leadership.
“But both are curable diseases, under the right conditions.”
Lumka alleged that Lobishe knowingly misled the committee by claiming he had not brought their letters to her attention.
“Telling the lie was a deliberate choice you made.
“You could and should have chosen differently.
“Citing the dates of the correspondence in question, you texted me at 11.54am during the proceedings, asking why I did not bring it to your attention.
“I immediately retrieved a WhatsApp thread I had sent to you on March 7 and forwarded it to you with copies of the letters in question, telling you that I had done so and that you blue-ticked me.”
He said being ignored was a standard occurrence.
“Not only this, your personal assistant confirmed to have brought this correspondence to your attention a few days before I did.
“Proof of this is available on demand.”
Lumka said a WhatsApp message on March 7 stated: “Afternoon EM [executive mayor], I’m forwarding these copies to ask for your guidance on how to treat these enquiries and requests for information.”
He said he had sought guidance due to the political sensitivity surrounding the R25m transformer leased to Coega Steels.
“I am specifically referring to the illegal leasing of a municipal asset and suspicious activities in your personal bank account.
“So, mayor, the committee correspondence fiasco was both predictable and avoidable.
“I remember watching you [when I started] with a mountain of correspondence in front of you, busy signing without paying attention.
“I was horrified.
“It was clear to me that this portfolio, the handling of correspondence, needed urgent attention as the risks were obvious.
“When people confront me for being quiet, I don’t tell them that I have a written gag order from you, a copy of which I still keep, telling me not to speak in meetings when you are present.
“Before this written gag order, you had told me to my face in October that I must be a shadow and stop asking questions in meetings and saying things that you should say.”
Lobishe told the committee she had asked Lumka to take responsibility for missing parliament’s letters, and that he, in turn, had issued a warning to one of her PAs.
“You called me during a short afternoon interval [during the meeting] at about 2pm, asking for the warning letter,” Lumka said.
“I told you on that same call that there was no letter written to her and that I cannot, in good conscience, discipline her when she had done no wrong.
“I had given her the same assurance that there would be no disciplinary action taken against her, nor a letter feigning such action.
“You returned to the committee that afternoon with this knowledge and chose to continue with the lie that a letter was on its way.”
During the meetings, Lobishe was instructed to contact Lumka so MPs could hear directly why he had not informed her about the letters.
“I deliberately did not join for three reasons.
“First, it would have been bad for me to join in and contradict your lies on the spot.
“Second, you deliberately left your chief of staff behind, as you usually do, when you chose your delegation to appear before the committee.
“Third, because I was excluded from participating in the committee engagements, I was at a workshop that day, with the speaker’s office.”
The committee had initially summoned Lobishe to appear on March 17.
However, it was later postponed, but a municipal delegation still travelled to Cape Town.
“On the fruitless and wasteful expenditure incurred from the aborted trip to Cape Town on March 17, I caution you not to pursue this because it will force me to provide proof that we often pay for hospitality when you’ve not shown up at the places that the office books for you.”
He said her office had a pattern in avoiding the management of correspondence.
“There were stakeholders you wanted to avoid.
“The Nelson Mandela Bay Civil Society Coalition is a prime example.
“My constructive and strategic engagements with this lobby group are a matter of public record.”
He alleged Lobishe had also avoided large companies seeking the metro’s assistance and did not arrive for meetings.
“It was embarrassing having to face those frustrated and anxious executives without you.”
He claimed he had been left to carry the burden of key responsibilities with little backing from the mayor, including leading crime-strategy initiatives, handling violent protests and engaging frustrated communities.
“Municipal finances are in the red.
“Your priority is to suspend me.
“Corruption is the order of the day.
“Your priority is to suspend me.
“Properties at the beachfront are operated without lease agreements.
“Your priority is to suspend me.
“Electricity, water and sanitation infrastructure are collapsing.
“We are a dark city.
“Your priority is to suspend me.
“Neighbourhoods are filthy. Your priority is to suspend me.
“The municipality is chronically underperforming. Your priority is to suspend me.”
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