Mayor hosted an extravagant gala evening even as the city does not have money for basic services

Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Mayor, Babalwa Lobishe, hosted an extravagant gala evening to deliver her State of the City Address, even as the city struggles with basic services.

Lobishe delivered her State of the City Address at the gala evening on Thursday, 10 September 2026.

“We are translating Nelson Mandela Bay’s potential into measurable progress, improving residents’ quality of life, and rebuilding investor confidence,” she said.

“About 98% of households have access to water, while 95.7% have access to improved sanitation facilities.”

She added that 94% of households have access to electricity, with 472 households connected during the period under review.

“The Municipality also installed 297 new public lights, retrofitted 3 708 existing public lights and refurbished 26 power transformers,” she said.

Lobishe said that, over the past two years, they have tarred 17 kilometres of gravel roads and constructed 6.8 kilometres of sidewalks across various wards.

“These improvements support safer travel, better accessibility and improved connectivity for residents and communities across the Metro,” she said.

Nelson Mandela Bay councillor Bill Harington said these claims mask the city’s service delivery problems.

He added that the extravagant gala dinner was a slap in the face of residents who daily bear the consequences of collapsing service delivery.

“Lobishe’s speech painted a picture of progress, but the reality at the grass-roots level tells a different story,” he said.

Lobishe acknowledged that unemployment stands at 33.1%, that manufacturing competitiveness is declining, and that investor confidence remains low.

“The Metro is wrestling with issues such as vacancies, ageing infrastructure, maintenance backlogs, financial pressure, and outstanding debt,” he said.

The Metro’s revenue collection rate for July 2026 was only 78.3%, well below the National Treasury’s target of 95%.

Meanwhile, R105 million is earmarked for a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, even as water and electricity losses persist.

In 2022/23, R122.9 million in conditional grants was left unspent. Of this, R63.7 million was not approved for roll-over and was no longer available for local service delivery.

“Millions that were earmarked for communities and infrastructure were simply not spent in time,” Harington said.

“It is unacceptable that a municipality, which claims there is not enough money, hosts an extravagant gala while funds allocated for service delivery are not properly used.”

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Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Mayor Babalwa Lobishe’s address photos

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