NMB's Lobishe disagrees with MPs that businesses disinvesting in Gqeberha because it is poorly run

Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Babalwa Lobishe says she doesn’t agree with MPs who have argued that businesses are disinvesting in Gqeberha because the city is poorly run.

On the first day of parliamentary oversight in the province, the MK Party on Monday said the fifty percent water losses in the municipality was a crime against humanity, while the IFP said the city was "dripping in corruption". 

Lobishe said the recent closure of the Goodyear tyre factory was not in any way related to the performance of the municipal council.

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Despite the regression in audit opinion from an unqualified to a qualified audit, Nelson Mandela Bay municipal officials and councillors downplayed the financial mismanagement issues raised by the provincial government during a meeting with Parliament’s portfolio committee on cooperative governance. 

Mayor Lobishe said the municipality was not to blame for the sluggish local economy, and said while the Goodyear factory had closed, other pharmaceutical and motoring companies were expanding their footprint in the province.

"To agree on disinvestment would be misinforming Parliament."

Asked by MPs as to what kept her awake at night, Lobishe had this to say: "What keeps me awake are the financial losses at electricity and energy, also there’s no expedience in employing [people] in critical vacancies."

Lobishe said water losses were also concerning to her.