The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality will roll out the red carpet for hundreds of guests tonight for a state of the metro address, featuring steak dinners, malva pudding, jazz, traditional dancers, kwaito, hip hop, gospel and DJs.
The event has triggered political backlash, with several parties saying it is happening as residents face water outages, sewage spills, potholes and power failures.
According to two leaked documents, the metro issued informal tenders for catering for 700 guests, entertainment, a PA system and décor for 70 trestle tables at the Ernest Swanepoel Hall in Despatch, where mayor Lobishe Babalwa will address the event.
Quotations were sought to cater for the guests, with a menu including savoury rice, chicken thighs and steak, butternut and spinach, and malva pudding with custard.
It also called for entertainment and performance services including a jazz band, traditional dancers, kwaito, hip hop and gospel artists, as well as DJs.
Additional tenders have been issued for a PA system and sound, and for décor and furniture hire, including 70 trestle tables and chairs.
The closing date was September 4. It is not yet clear how much the municipality will spend on the event.
According to the guest list, the largest group is ward committee members with 180 people.
Councillors account for 120 people plus one guest each.
Mayoral committee members and their guests account for 45 people.
The list allocates 10 guests each to the speaker, Mayor, deputy mayor and the chief whip.
It also includes religious leaders, union representatives, premier Oscar Mabuyane, Legislature speaker Helen Sauls-August and others.
Coalition partners and opposition parties have branded the event as a fruitless and wasteful expenditure, with many announcing they will boycott the evening.
In an email to speaker Eugene Johnson’s PA, DA councillor Gustav Rautenbach said his party would not attend the gala.
DA councillor Rano Kayser said the party preferred to put residents first rather than spending ratepayers’ money on unnecessary lavish gala dinners
“The city is currently facing serious challenges in relation to service delivery and administrative stability.”
He said these include water outages, sewer leaks, potholes, grant funding taken away, escalating crime and high unemployment
“Considering all the above, the DA believes our priority is to spend taxpayers’ money where it matters and stabilising the administration that has no permanent executive directors,” Kayser said.
GOOD councillor Lawrence Troon said the event was being used to launch the ANC’s manifesto.
“We can see this is an ANC event. Look at the colours of the posters used with the mayor’s face.
“And as council, we were never informed that we’re going to have a state of the metro address.
“Secondly, I don’t know what she wants to address because all of us can see that we’re living in potholes, we’re living in sewage, and we’re living in filth.
“So what the mayor wants to try is actually a very desperate attempt to campaign for the elections.
“It will be interesting to see which political parties attend this event. Any political party with self-respect would not dare go.
“This is again a fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom said his party was concerned about the event’s scale and expense.
“Communities across the city continue to experience deteriorating basic services.
“Municipal procurement documents show that preparations have been made for catering for 700 guests.
“The final total cost of this event is not yet clear from the documents available to us.
“That is precisely why the ACDP believes the municipality must immediately disclose the full cost to ratepayers, including catering, decor, entertainment, sound, production and every other associated expense.
“At a time when residents are struggling with potholes, broken streetlights, sewage spills, electricity interruptions, water problems, ageing infrastructure and communities waiting far too long for basic municipal services, this kind of expenditure sends the wrong message completely.
He said residents did not need an expensive gala dinner to be told the state of the city.
“They can see it with their own eyes every single day. They see it when they drive over damaged roads.
“They see it when streetlights remain broken. They see it when sewage runs through communities.
“They see it when electricity and water infrastructure fails. They see it when complaints remain unresolved, and communities are repeatedly asked to be patient.
He said Lobishe could have delivered her address in council, livestreamed it to residents and published the speech publicly at minimal additional cost.
“Every rand spent on unnecessary ceremony is a rand that could instead contribute towards fixing infrastructure and improving frontline service delivery.”
Deputy mayor and National Alliance (NA) councillor Gary van Niekerk told speaker Eugene Johnson that the party will not attend the proposed State of the Metro Gala Event in person.
In a letter to Johnson, Van Niekerk said the NA recognised the address as an opportunity for the mayor and governing coalition to account to residents on progress made over the past year, challenges facing the metro and plans and priorities for the period ahead.
However, he said the party was concerned by the reported expenditure associated with hosting the event in a gala format.
“At a time when our metro continues to face serious and urgent service delivery challenges, we believe that every rand of taxpayers’ money must be directed towards addressing the needs of our residents and improving the delivery of essential municipal services,” Van Niekerk said.
He said that as president of the NA and deputy mayor, he had a responsibility to ensure that public funds were used responsibly, transparently and in the best interests of the people of Nelson Mandela Bay.
Van Niekerk also raised concerns about the ongoing impasse between himself and executive mayor Babalwa Lobishe.
He said that despite numerous requests for assistance from the ANC provincial leadership, no meaningful resolution had been reached.
“This continued breakdown in the political leadership of the Metro makes it increasingly difficult for the National Alliance to participate in an event of this nature as though normal relations and effective cooperation exist,” he said.
Van Niekerk said the NA had therefore decided not to attend.
He asked that all costs associated with the 17 NA invitees be cancelled immediately, including catering, seating, entertainment or any other expenditure attributable to the delegation.
“Accordingly, we will make ourselves available to attend the state of the metro address virtually,” Van Niekerk said.
He said the decision was not a rejection of accountability or the importance of the State of the Metro Address.
“Rather, it reflects our firm belief that at this particular time, the priority must be the people of Nelson Mandela Bay and the urgent service delivery challenges they face,” he said.
FF+ councillor Bill Harrington said the ANC would “no doubt” use the evening to highlight its achievements and congratulate itself on the state of Nelson Mandela Bay.
“The FF+, however, will be there to listen, to put residents first, and to ensure that the reality experienced by our communities is not forgotten,” he said.
Harrington said the real state of the city was not determined on a stage, in a formal address or at a gala evening, but by what residents experienced in their communities every day.
He cited ongoing water problems, leaking pipes, sewage overflows, blocked sewer systems, potholes, deteriorating roads, broken streetlights, refuse problems and poor maintenance of basic municipal infrastructure.
He said residents repeatedly had to report problems, make calls and lodge complaints before basic services received attention.
“The FF+ believes that this situation is not simply the result of circumstances. It is the consequence of years of poor governance, inadequate oversight, political interference and mismanagement under an ANC-led municipal government,” he said.
Harrington said it was his responsibility as FF+ caucus leader to be present when the ANC presented its version of the past five years.
“We will listen to what is said, but we will also measure those claims against the reality residents experience every day,” he said.
“The ANC may praise its own record. The FF+ will be there to put residents first, to listen to what is said, and to ensure that the voice of our communities is heard.”
AIM councillor Khusta Jack said his party would also abstain from attending the evening, labelling it as a “mere political jamboree” adding it does not reflect the hardship residents are facing.
“It’s not a good idea and it’s a waste of money and time. It’s a political gimmick of self aggrandisement and honestly by all metrics we’re not people who can stand up and celebrate anything of the last five years.
“It serves no purpose and best cheap political campaigning for the ANC.
“We’re talking almost R500 per head that will be foot by the tax payer,” Jack said.
Coalition partner, the EFF also said on Thursday afternoon it would not attend the gala.
EFF provincial chairperson Zilindile Vena said the gala comes at a time when communities continue to face unemployment, poverty and serious service-delivery challenges, including water outages and leaks, sanitation and drain spillages, deteriorating road infrastructure and persistent electricity challenges.
“The EFF cannot participate in festivities that risk creating an impression that the Metro is functioning at a level that is not reflected in the lived experience of many residents.
“The EFF accepts responsibility for the portfolios entrusted to it, but it will not accept responsibility for failures outside its mandate.
“The EFF openly acknowledges that it leads the portfolios of electricity and energy and budget and treasury, and we accept the political responsibility that comes with those portfolios.
“Where we fall short, we must account to residents. Where we have delivered, that work must equally be acknowledged. However, the failures of the municipality cannot be collectively attributed to the EFF simply because we are part of the governing coalition,” Vena said.
Council chief whip Wandisile Jikeka could not be reached for comment before the article was published.
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