SMUTS FOR HOW MANY PIECES OF SILVER?

The ANC leadership crisis in Nelson Mandela Bay has sunk to a new low as former COPE MP set to replace octogenarian Mayor.

The DA in Nelson Mandela Bay has reliably learned that the ANC will replace Mayor Benson Fihla with hired gun and former COPE MP Smuts Ngonyama.

The ANC continues to treat Nelson Mandela Bay like its own personal circus with a Mayoral merry go round that has seen the last 4 mayors replaced before the end of their terms.

This latest move reveals the depth of the ANC's leadership crisis in Nelson Mandela Bay. The regional leadership of the ANC is clearly not fit to lead its own structures let alone our municipality.

The acquisition and deployment of Ngonyama by the ANC is a desperate last ditch effort to float a sinking ship. They would do well to remember that shuffling the chairs on the Titanic did not stop it from sinking.

The DA looks forward to engaging with the new mayor to find out exactly what has changed in the ANC that he feels so comfortable to return to its suffocating embrace.

The DA will continue to build on our impressive growth in Nelson Mandela Bay as we prepare to govern in 2016. The only way to turn this Metro around is to remove the ANC in its entirety, not just the Mayor.

Statement issued by Cllr Retief Odendaal, DA Nelson Mandela Bay Caucus leader, May 18 2014