Deputy mayor lashes out over motion to decide whether he is still fit for position

The Democratic Alliance’s Morné Steyn and Gustav Rautenbach have filed a motion at Nelson Mandela Bay’s council to ask for an investigation into Deputy Mayor Gary van Niekerk’s fitness to continue in office. Steyn wants the MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Zolile Williams, and the council’s Rules and Ethics Committee to investigate the issue.

The motion holds that it should be investigated whether Van Niekerk can continue to hold office as a councillor after he was convicted of contempt of court. Legally, a person convicted of a crime involving dishonesty is considered unfit to continue working as a councillor.

The motion came after Executive Mayor Babalwa Lobishe, at a recent Parliamentary oversight hearing, was asked what she thought of the “shenanigans” of her deputy mayor — a question she failed to answer.

Van Niekerk, a member of the National Alliance, was outraged by the motion and, in a media statement on Sunday, said, “Let this statement serve as my absolute, vehement rejection of the baseless and malicious motion brought against me for my removal from council. This action is not driven by law or ethics; it is a transparent, desperate and frankly pathetic act of political vandalism enacted by a faction within the DA that is terrified of accountability.”

He described himself as “the one voice refusing to be bought or intimidated”.

This month, Van Niekerk was found guilty of contempt of court after he skipped a court appearance for the start of his fraud trial, instead travelling to a conference in Germany.

A warrant for his arrest was issued, but held over pending another court appearance, where he was asked to explain himself. He testified that he was acting “in the best interests of Nelson Mandela Bay and its people” and was so focused on creating jobs, fighting poverty and “saving lives” that it completely slipped his mind that his visit abroad clashed with the start of his fraud trial.

He was convicted of contempt of court and fined R2,000.

Van Niekerk also faces charges of cyberfraud and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act, which date back to 2022 when he allegedly racked up legal bills amounting to more than R570,000 when he was not authorised to do so.

In their motion, Steyn and Rautenbach state: “It is further common cause that one is disqualified from the office of Councillor if convicted of theft, fraud, forgery, or any offence of dishonesty. The Code of Conduct of Councillors further makes provision for the investigation of breaches of the Code of Conduct by Council.”

They requested that Van Niekerk be investigated by the Speaker “in terms of the Council Rules and Ethics procedures with immediate effect”.

They also asked that an investigation be undertaken by Williams “with immediate effect” to determine whether Van Niekerk can continue to hold office as a councillor.

‘Corruption’ 

Van Niekerk on Sunday described his conviction as an “administrative contempt of court” and said he had paid the fine and apologised. He claimed that DA members were trying to distract from the “corruption” in their party.

He said he had sent his evidence of the “rot” contained in an auditing report to senior DA leaders Helen Zille and Andrew Whitfield, but that they had ignored this.

He said the DA was punishing him for removing Retief Odendaal — a former mayor and the DA’s mayoral candidate for Nelson Mandela Bay in the 2026 local government elections — through a motion of no confidence, even though the motion was brought by the EFF.

“My duty over your politics,” Van Niekerk said in his statement on Sunday. He denied that contempt of court was a crime of dishonesty that would disqualify him from holding a position as a councillor.

“I am guilty only of fighting for the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay,” he said.

Even though he is serving in a coalition government under the control of the ANC, whose service delivery has been marked as “in distress” by the Treasury, he claims that it was corruption during Odendaal’s months as mayor that was now “systematically stealing from service delivery to the poor”.

In November 2024, a multiparty committee investigating Van Niekerk asked Williams to suspend him or remove him from office.

This committee was investigating contraventions for which Van Niekerk has now been criminally charged by the Hawks, but in the context of ethics and rules violations.

The committee found him guilty of breaking several council rules, in that he had abused his position, put the council at risk and violated sections of the Municipal Finance Management Act. However, Williams overturned the suggested sanction and instead gave Van Niekerk a “serious reprimand”. DM