Nelson Mandela Bay councillors demand answers about spending of flood disaster grants

In a rare moment of unity, councillors from across the political spectrum agreed that they were unable to get proper answers over Nelson Mandela Bay’s use of two flood disaster grants to repair infrastructure in Kariega.

On 1 June 2024, a cloudburst in Kariega led to flooding that caused the deaths of at least 10 people and destroyed two vital bridges and several roads, while more than 1,000 people were displaced.

Read more: Seven confirmed dead after Nelson Mandela Bay downpours, with more rain expected

The metro received two tranches of disaster grants after the floods to start repairing infrastructure damage estimated at R1-billion.

The first tranche was for R53-million and the second for R89-million.

DA councillor Johnny Faltein, seconded by councillor Franay van de Linde, this week sought clarity over the state of repairs specifically for the two canals in Kariega that are supposed to function as flood mitigation measures, but which have fallen into disrepair.

Both councillors said they were very worried as three days of heavy rain are predicted for Nelson Mandela Bay next week. The South African Weather Service has issued a Level 2 flood warning.

Van de Linde said she was upset when she heard at a recent meeting of the Budget and Treasury Directorate that there was no money for the repair of the canals.

The leader of the DA in Nelson Mandela Bay, Rano Kayser, accused acting city manager Ted Pillay of misleading the council and asked for answers.

Kayser said that as the metro was now at the end of its financial year, there was a good chance that the city would lose the R53-million grant funding due to underspending.

“But are we at risk of losing the other R89-million funding as well? There are no contractors on site,” he said.

The ANC’s councillor Bongani Mani said they were hearing “scary things” about the disaster funding.

“Acting City Manager, are you confident that this will not result in egg on our faces?” he asked. “We want it on record.”

He said he was tired of receiving the “same boring answers” about the spending of the grants.

Pillay said a decision had been made to reduce the four projects that were originally planned to two.

“Only two can be implemented. We have to find funding for the other two,” he said. This included the repair work on the canals.

The R53-million for the repair of roads was awarded to different companies than those which had won a triennial contract for this work.

“This will result in irregular expenditure,” Pillay said, adding that the municipality’s public accounts committee would have to sort it out.

However, he insisted that work on the two bridges was progressing.

Kayser countered that the information he had received from the city’s Budget and Treasury Department was that the contractors had been appointed illegally, as the council had not supplied the correct supporting documentation with its decision. DM