The Defenders of the People has disbanded the Nelson Mandela Bay regional structure, placing the coalition that governs the metro in a precarious position.
The party’s secretary-general, Aubrey Maake, sent a communique to party members on Monday after the central defence team met at the weekend.
The party has two councillors in the Bay — Tukela Zumani, who is also the budget and treasury political head, and Florence Hermans.
“It can’t be accepted that the party has leadership that disrespects, misleads, and divides supporters and members of the organisation,” Maake said.
He said the interim regional structure included:
- Trevor Louw as provincial co-ordinator;
- Mbulelo Manyathi as regional chair;
- Neville Higgins as regional deputy chair;
- Thembinkosi Rawula as secretary and spokesperson;
- Siyabonga Kwatsha as deputy secretary; and
- Yolanda Jassen as treasurer.
In January, DOP president Ruphus Mphahlele threatened to pull out of the Bay coalition, accusing the regional structure of behaving as a law unto itself.
Mphahlele said that since the coalition was formed the regional structure had failed to produce a copy of the partnership agreement despite repeated requests.
He said they had been making their own decisions without consulting the top structure.
“With each and every thing they do they need to consult with the president of the party, but they just do things without consulting the proper structure,” Maake said.
He said Mphahlele was shocked to read in the media that the party had joined up with the ANC to form a government.
“Everything was going well until they started thinking they are bigger than the president.
“Then Zumani started to undermine the president on social media,” he said.
If DOP leaves the coalition, the ruling government would be left vulnerable as it does not have a 61-seat majority in the 120-seat council.
The coalition — made up of the ANC, AIC, GOOD, NA, PAC, UDM, DOP and AIM — has a combined 58 seats out of a council of 120.
It governs with the support of the PA, which has two seats.
A grouping of opposition parties led by the DA has 60 seats.
Maake said Mphahlele had told him to talk to Zumani to try to understand how the agreement between the parties work.
“I tried to reach out to them, but they never got back to us.”
Zumani and Hermans were sent suspension letters, he said, but they never responded.
Maake said a hearing was arranged, but they failed to pitch.
Instead, a lawyer’s letter was sent to the party accusing it of violating their rights.
“The constitution allowed us to continue without their presence, and they were found guilty with a recommendation to be expelled,” he said.
He said the party wrote to acting city manager Noxolo Nqwazi last week informing her that Zumani and Hermans no longer represented DOP.
However, when the party sent the names of the new councillors — Louw and Bongekile Emelda Mankahla — to Nqwazi, she said she could not make any changes due to a court interdict.
“We have not received any communication from the judiciary,” Maake said.
“We have no problem with the legal route, but we sense bias from the acting city manager.
“We have since been engaging with our lawyers.”
Nqwazi said she was on leave due to a bereavement in her family.
Municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said Nqwazi had received information there was a legal process in relation to the removal of the councillors.
"She would then give space for the legal processes to unfold and conclude before implementing any instruction or request," he said.
He said such an implementation would be done without haste and within the confines of the law.
Former regional co-ordinator Simphiwe Madlavu said the structure had secured an interdict to stop Nqwazi from removing Zumani and Hermans, but failed to supply the court documents.
Zumani said the coalition was still intact.
“I really have no comment to this.
Samuel Mnyamana, DOP’s chief negotiator during coalition talks, disputed Mphahele’s claims that he was not not informed.
“Mphahlele is lying, we always reported to him.
“He started acting up after he demanded a party levy from the two councillors,” he said.
ANC regional secretary Luyolo Nqakula, who chairs the political management council that oversees the coalition, said the party’s national leaders had not notified him of issues.
IEC regional spokesperson Crosby Bacela said the commission was aware of the matter but there was a legal process that needed to be followed when filling a vacancy in council.
He said the commission had not yet received any instruction from Nqwazi.
He said a municipal manager must write to the IEC that there is a vacancy in council.
“We can then comply with it. So far, we have seen a letter addressed to [Nqwazi] but, unfortunately, we can’t do anything about it.
“We will act when we receive the necessary communication from [Nqwazi] and the right documentation from the concerned party.”
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