RIGHT OF REPLY: "The Mayor Did Not Snub The Economic Summit"

Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality rejects the misleading and unnecessarily sensational framing of the Executive Mayor’s non-attendance at the economic recovery summit convened by the Eastern Cape Socio Economic Consultative Council and the Nelson Mandela Bay Civil Society Coalition.

The suggestion that the Executive Mayor “snubbed” the summit, leaving organisers “embarrassed and scrambling for answers”, is not an accurate reflection of the Municipality’s participation or the institutional arrangements of local government.

The Municipality was represented at the summit by the Speaker of Council, Councillor Eugene Johnson, who is a member of the municipal Troika and a senior political office bearer of the Municipality. The Speaker is an experienced and competent representative of Council and was fully capable of engaging with stakeholders on matters concerning the economic development and recovery of Nelson Mandela Bay. To characterise the Municipality as having been absent from the summit because the Executive Mayor could not attend is therefore factually misleading.

The Executive Mayor’s diary commitment related to a duly convened Special Council Meeting involving matters requiring the attention of Council. The fact that the meeting subsequently failed to achieve a quorum does not retrospectively invalidate the institutional responsibility attached to the Mayor’s scheduled participation. Neither does it mean that the Mayor was required to disregard a formal Council programme simply because the meeting ultimately could not proceed.

It is also important to distinguish between the Mayor’s attendance and the Municipality’s institutional representation. The latter was secured. The Speaker’s presence ensured that the Municipality remained part of the engagement and that the interests and perspectives of local government could be represented in discussions aimed at strengthening the economy of Nelson Mandela Bay.

The article’s juxtaposition of the Mayor’s absence from the summit with her subsequent participation in an engagement involving international media at the Coega Development Corporation is equally problematic. These were different engagements serving different but complementary strategic objectives. Promoting Nelson Mandela Bay as an investment, tourism and international business destination is directly connected to the economic recovery agenda of the Metro. It cannot reasonably be portrayed as evidence that the Executive Mayor was indifferent to the economic challenges confronting the city.

In fact, the Municipality has consistently maintained that economic recovery cannot be achieved through isolated events or political symbolism. It requires sustained collaboration between local government, provincial and national government, organised business, labour, civil society, development institutions and other stakeholders.

The Municipality therefore welcomes initiatives that seek to build a stronger social compact around economic recovery. The issues identified at the summit, including infrastructure, water, sanitation, electricity, roads, crime and safety, investment and industrial development, are matters that the Municipality itself continues to place firmly on its strategic agenda.

The appropriate question is consequently not whether the Executive Mayor personally occupied the podium for an opening address, but whether the institutions of Nelson Mandela Bay are actively participating in the work required to rebuild the local economy.

On that measure, the Municipality was represented.

The Municipality further cautions against a form of journalism that reduces complex institutional responsibilities to personalised narratives of “snubbing”, “embarrassment” and political absence. Such framing may generate a compelling headline, but it does little to advance a serious public conversation about the structural economic challenges facing Nelson Mandela Bay or the collaborative solutions required to address them.

The Municipality remains committed to constructive engagement with all stakeholders working towards economic growth, investment, job creation, industrial development and improved conditions for businesses and residents.

The challenge before Nelson Mandela Bay is too important to be reduced to whether one individual was physically present at one event. What matters is whether all institutions and stakeholders are prepared to move from dialogue to coordinated implementation and measurable delivery.

That is precisely where the Municipality intends to focus its attention.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Civil Society Coalition responds:

The Speaker of Council, Eugene Johnson, was never at the summit nor did any other politician from the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality join the discussions at any point. We would have called her to the podium to replace Mayor Lobishe on the programme to welcome our national, provincial, and local guests.

It is also pertinent that we categorically state that the summit did not take place in isolation, as per the Communications Director. From November 2025, nine engagements with various sectors of society, including government, were held to steer stakeholders towards submitting approved plans and strategies on the day of the summit.

Preparation for the summit was a collaborative effort from the onset, with the MMC for Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture, Bassie Kamana, opening the technical workshop in November. Executive Mayor Babalwa Lobishe, herself, endorsed the summit on 27 May this year and arranged that the Chief Operating Officer of the municipality ensured the participation of technical teams at the summit.

The presence of the Executive Mayor, in her capacity as the political head of the municipality and the chair of the Mayoral Committee, would have advanced our efforts to establish an inclusive turn-around strategy for the municipality.

Nevertheless, we are hopeful that our next engagement will be more opportune for the Executive Mayor to attend.