Monday, 4 May 2026

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) condemns the reckless and irresponsible remarks made today by President Cyril Ramaphosa in praising Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor Babalwa Lobishe, claiming that she is “doing very well” and “stabilising the metro,” while residents of the municipality continue to suffer daily collapse in basic service delivery, corruption, and political chaos.

Ramaphosa’s comments are detached from the lived reality of the people of Nelson Mandela Bay, who continue to endure deteriorating roads, water interruptions, collapsing infrastructure, rampant illegal dumping, unemployment, and an administration paralysed by corruption and instability.

There is absolutely nothing stable about Nelson Mandela Bay under the ANC. The metro has become a symbol of administrative collapse, and where public funds are squandered while communities are abandoned.

The EFF recently exposed how the municipality has wasted over R5.8 million paying suspended ANC-appointed City Manager Noxolo Nqwazi, who has remained on suspension for over two years while continuing to receive a salary at the expense of residents. She is currently under suspension pending disciplinary processes, highlighting her own ineffectiveness in the position. Even more funds have been wasted in employing acting City Managers who are receiving full salaries and benefits on top of the suspended managers wages.

It is additionally concerning is that the instability in municipal leadership has reportedly resulted in Nelson Mandela Bay losing approximately R1.6 billion in rollover funding applications from National Treasury because of the absence of a stable City Manager. These are funds that could have been used to improve roads, sanitation, water infrastructure, housing, and service delivery for the people of the metro.

Under the leadership celebrated by Ramaphosa, Nelson Mandela Bay has also witnessed shameful attacks on the right to education. The EFF, working with the community of New Brighton recently intervened to stop the attempted eviction of more than 700 learners from the Seventh Day Adventist Primary School in New Brighton, a shameless attack on education led by the ANC. This reckless action threatens the futures of hundreds of children and exposed the complete disregard this coalition government has for poor communities.

Furthermore, numerous municipal departments do not even have permanent departmental heads, leaving critical functions leaderless and dysfunctional. The municipality is now expected to appear before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) regarding the deepening governance crisis under the leadership of Mayor Lobishe.

Nelson Mandela Bay is at serious risk of being placed under administration due to the collapse of governance and institutional stability, yet Cyril Ramaphosa shamelessly claims that the Mayor is “stabilising” the City. Instead of confronting these crises honestly, Ramaphosa has chosen to campaign for failure and mediocrity. His praise for Mayor Lobishe confirms once again that the ANC rewards incompetence, corruption, and collapse because it has normalised failure as a standard of governance.

The ANC has destroyed Nelson Mandela Bay through years of factionalism, corruption, cadre deployment, and political infighting. The metro has become a playground for political elites while ordinary residents suffer indignity daily.

The EFF therefore calls on the people of Nelson Mandela Bay to reject the ANC decisively in the upcoming Local Government Elections. Residents should refuse to entrust their future to a party that celebrates collapse while communities drown in poverty and underdevelopment.

The EFF remains the only credible alternative capable of restoring accountability, clean governance, proper service delivery, and dignified living conditions in Nelson Mandela Bay. The EFF calls on residents to vote for economic freedom, accountable governance, and the total rebuilding of Nelson Mandela Bay under the leadership of the Economic Freedom Fighters.