DISCIPLINARY DISASTER: Suspended Nelson Mandela Bay city manager paid R6.7m — disciplinary hearing collapses

Nelson Mandela Bay’s disciplinary hearing against suspended city manager Noxolo Nqwazi was terminated after procedural failures – she’s drawn R6.7m in salary while on suspension.

More than two years after the suspension of Nelson Mandela Bay city manager Noxolo Nqwazi, her disciplinary case has run aground. The chairperson of her disciplinary committee terminated the hearing after finding that the municipality failed to properly constitute it.

On Wednesday, committee chairperson Adriaan van der Walt found that the municipality had failed to follow key requirements in bringing Nqwazi before a disciplinary hearing.

The finding came after Nqwazi challenged the chairperson’s authority to preside over the hearing.

The municipality did not participate in the hearing of her challenge after its attorneys failed to show up when the matter was heard on 1 September. Later that afternoon, Van der Walt received a letter from the mayor requesting a postponement, but by that time, it was too late to consider the request.

The chairperson found that the council had never formally determined whether the alleged misconduct against Nqwazi was categorised as serious or less serious, as required by the Disciplinary Regulations for Senior Managers.

The council resolution authorising disciplinary action did not contain such a determination.

Van der Walt also found that the council had not authorised the mayor to appoint an independent external chairperson and an officer to lead evidence. As a result, he found that the appointments were irregular.

Van der Walt also found that the investigation that preceded the disciplinary proceedings had not complied with regulations.

The regulations require the investigator to be appointed by the council and the investigator’s terms of reference to be approved by a council resolution.

Based on the evidence before him, Van der Walt found that these requirements had not been met. He concluded that the disciplinary hearing had not been properly constituted and could not continue.

The ruling, however, does not prevent the municipality from starting the process again. Van der Walt said the metro could “go back to the drawing board” and follow the regulations before instituting new proceedings.

The metro has had a revolving door of acting city managers, each occupying the office for only a few months, after Nqwazi was suspended in October 2023, when Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana demanded that action be taken against her over her pending criminal case as a condition for the release of R781-million in grants to the metro.

The criminal case against Nqwazi stems from her tenure as acting city manager in 2020, when the metro awarded a R24.6-million contract to HT Pelatona Projects to construct toilets during the Covid-19 pandemic.