Abantu Integrity Movement (AIM) councillor Khusta Jack, who stepped down from Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Babalwa Lobishe’s mayoral committee this week, has broken his silence on the decision, describing deepening governance failures within the city.
Jack resigned as the political head of corporate services on Thursday ahead of a scheduled council meeting.
In a statement, he accused Lobishe of presiding over a metro in which governance is collapsing, alongside mounting failures in infrastructure and basic service delivery.
Jack said he had become disillusioned by the serious deterioration of governance in the metro under her leadership.
In his scathing statement, Jack said he could no longer “in good conscience” remain part of an administration failing residents and frustrating businesses.
The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality is facing a grave crisis of infrastructure decay and collapsing service delivery. Unfortunately, Lobishe does not seem to have the capacity and acumen to lead our metro out of this catastrophe
— Khusta Jack
“The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality is facing a grave crisis of infrastructure decay and collapsing service delivery.
“Unfortunately, Lobishe does not seem to have the capacity and acumen to lead our metro out of this catastrophe.
“The daily upswelling of anger and frustration among various stakeholder formations, from community groups to organised business, is a testament that this government is failing in its first responsibility, which is to render services to the people of Nelson Mandela Bay.”
Jack said his relationship with the mayor soured after he declined to support her during a motion of no confidence tied to the controversial R25m transformer leased to Coega Steels.
Following an appearance in parliament’s cooperative governance and traditional affairs portfolio committee meeting in March, Lobishe faced a motion of no confidence but survived after most of the councillors voted against the motion.
“From that day on, she started interfacing with me more like an adversary than a colleague.
“Being the type of leader she is, she went on a whispering campaign behind my back, suggesting to my colleagues that by withholding my vote I was trying to collapse the government of local unity (GLU).
“That, of course, was a ludicrous accusation.
“At no state was the GLU under any threat, simply because the opposition parties did not have the numbers to carry their motion.
“For me, withholding my vote was a matter of personal integrity.
“I could not bring myself to support the mayor over an illegal transaction which she herself conceded in parliament was irregular.
I do not have it within me to support wrongdoing solely for the purpose of grovelling for a seat at the leadership table
— Khusta Jack
“I do not have it within me to support wrongdoing solely for the purpose of grovelling for a seat at the leadership table.”
Without AIM, the municipality is now governed by the ANC (48), PAC (1), AIC (1), EFF (8), NA (3), DOP (1) and the UDM (1).
The coalition has a combined 63 seats. AIM has a single seat on the council.
Jack also criticised the prolonged suspension of city manager Noxolo Nqwazi, saying ratepayers had already spent more than R10m while the mayor avoided resolving the matter.
“Lobishe should not be allowed to hold the council to ransom simply because she might have some political or personal chemistry issues with Nqwazi.
“The metro administration is not a friendship club.
“We all have a duty to expend ratepayer resources responsibly, even if we have to work with colleagues we are not particularly fond of.”
Speaking on the sidelines of Thursday’s council meeting, Lobishe said Jack had failed the residents, adding that had he not resigned, she would have fired him herself.
She accused him of failing to adequately address labour relations, worker safety concerns, and persistent vacancies within the municipality’s senior management structures.
Despite this criticism, Jack said not all is lost for residents.
He said they would have an opportunity during the local government elections in November to elect “competent and visionary compatriots to save our metro from further decay”.
“A metro named after Nelson Mandela should be an international leisure and business destination of choice, not a municipality where traffic lights don’t work, streets are dark at night, and raw sewage is flowing down every other street.”
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