DEPUTY MINISTER DR MASEMOLA PRESENTS SECTION 154 SUPPORT TO THE NELSON MANDELA BAY METRO

The Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Dr Namane Dickson Masemola, supported by MEC of CoGTA – Mr Zolile Williams, returned to the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM). The engagement with the council was guided by the theme – “Every Municipality Must Work”.

The milestone meeting with the Council held at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was characterised by robust discussions geared at ensuring an effective and efficient functioning municipality.

The follow-up visit to the Metro follows the engagement that the Deputy Minister held on 18 November 2025 with the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality Mayoral Committee, which decided that there will be another meeting to brief Council on the proposal from CoGTA.

Today, 04 December 2025, the Deputy Minister and the MEC of CoGTA in the Province presented a Section 154 package, which will see a team of experts coming to assist the municipality.

The Deputy Minister emphasised that they came to speak to the people of Mandela Bay to highlight the extent to which we would like to work together to enable the city to achieve high performance.

Both the Deputy Minister and MEC emphasised that Section 154 support is not a takeover of the municipality, but a collaboration to fill in gaps where they exist and to augment the capacity of the municipality in areas identified as having challenges.

They both said that this support is not a takeover but will be a way to augment where there are gaps, so that the city can function effectively in all areas.

It is important to note that Section 154 enjoins the National and Provincial spheres to support local government to deliver on its mandate, meaning to perform better and improve service delivery to communities.

The Deputy Minister said that he is conscious and aware that, according to Section 160 of the Constitution, Council is the supreme decision-making structure in the municipality, hence the presentation today to Council for their support and buy-in.

The Deputy Minister and MEC highlighted that some examples of the key concerns are that the city is losing funds, almost R1 billion grant funding back to the National Treasury, which could have been used to benefit communities and change their lives.

The operational plan presented, together with the Terms of Reference for the support, was welcomed by Council.

On matters of service delivery, collaboration and support is required by CoGTA, other departments and entities to close the gaps and address challenges that the municipality is experiencing as reflected in the state of the municipality report.

“Nelson Mandela Metro is important to be left not being able to function effectively and efficiently and delivering services to the people as expected”, emphasised the Deputy Minister.

For this S154 support to succeed, we need to ensure that communities are at the centre of our plans and implementation of the work.

“Until Government is based on the will of the people, it shall not enjoy legitimacy in the eyes of the people”, he further said.

The Deputy Minister announced that a ten (10) members team with various skills and expertise will be in the Metro to lead the S154 support.

This team, assembled by the National CoGTA through the Results Management Office Technical Team, comprises seasoned professionals with extensive public and private sector experience in the following critical fields:

• Infrastructure planning, development, and maintenance,
• Development planning and human settlement management,
• ⁠Financial Management (including Supply Chain Management),
• Good Governance, including internal and external audit.

The Deputy Minister indicated that:

• Section 154 Support Team shall prepare regular progress reports on key activities, achievements, challenges, and recommendations for the Political Oversight Committee.
• A minimum of two (2) reports shall be produced before the end of March 2026 on specific interventions. These reports may be shared with relevant stakeholders.
• The Section 154 Support Team may engage in outreach and communication efforts to raise awareness about its work and solicit input from the broader community.
• The Section 154 Support may seek support and resources from various sources, including reprioritised government funding, private sector contributions, donor assistance, and in-kind contributions from stakeholders.

Efforts shall be made to leverage existing resources and partnerships to maximise impact and minimise duplication of efforts.

He also noted that the challenges confronting the metro are well known, including governance shortcomings, funding constraints and the R24 billion in fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

The Deputy Minister indicated the need for the National Treasury to provide a clear assessment of the city’s financial position, with a specific focus on reducing irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure. He reiterated that the national department will return with the necessary capacity to support the municipality.

The Deputy Minister requested the supreme decision-making body of the Metro to assent to the support package brought by CoGTA to ensure that the municipality is set on a path to delivering on its mandate.

Media Enquiries:

Musa Maud Mkaliphi

Media Liaison Officer to Deputy Minister Dr Masemola

📞0632713498/0602042563

Legadima Leso

Head of Communications, COGTA

📞 066 479 9904

Issued by the Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

#EveryMunicipalityMustWork