Corruption-accused Neville Higgins will return to the Nelson Mandela Bay council, filling the vacant Defenders of the People seat.
Higgins is the party’s national spokesperson. He replaces Bongekile Mankahla, suspended by the party in April and later expelled.
Higgins is no stranger to the council, having served as a DA councillor after the 2016 local government elections.
But he was removed by the party after voting with the opposition in support of a 2018 motion to oust former DA mayor Athol Trollip.
Higgins is one of several accused in a toilet tender corruption trial, alongside suspended city manager Noxolo Nqwazi.
Though Higgins had not been sworn in before Thursday’s council meeting, council chief whip Wandisile Jikeka informed speaker Eugene Johnson that DOP had written to the IEC to confirm it would fill the vacancy.
DOP has two seats in the Bay council following the 2021 local government elections.
Higgins and his co-accused return to the commercial crimes court in June.
The Herald
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