By Anita Dangazele
- Nelson Mandela Bay deputy mayor Gary van Niekerk appears in court for allegedly spending R551,586 on illegal legal fees.
- Opposition parties fail to remove him through a no-confidence vote after the council speaker denies receiving the motion.
Nelson Mandela Bay deputy mayor Gary van Niekerk rushed from court to a council meeting on Thursday as he fights to keep his job.
Van Niekerk appeared in the Gqeberha Commercial Crimes Court on charges of breaking municipal finance laws and cyber fraud.
Hawks spokesperson Lt-Col Avele Fumba says Van Niekerk was arrested after a thorough investigation.
“The investigation alleged an appointment of a service provider for legal services. What is so interesting about this is that at the time of the appointment, the accused was not serving as a speaker or a councillor,” says Fumba.
Van Niekerk allegedly spent R551,586 on lawyers at Boqwana Burns Incorporated in 2022 when he was council speaker, even though suspended city manager Noxolo Nqwazi had declared his council seat empty. He reportedly used the lawyers for his own party disputes.
The case will continue on 15 January. Van Niekerk says he’s confident the charges will be dropped once he tells his side.
At the council meeting, Good Party leader Lawrence Troon asked why Van Niekerk hadn’t stepped aside after being charged.
Mayor Babalwa Lobishe responded: “I did not employ the deputy mayor, so it is not within my powers to ask the deputy mayor to step aside or to hand in his resignation, it is the council that voted for him so they must decide what happens.”
The Democratic Alliance and Good Party tried to remove Van Niekerk through a no-confidence vote on 8 November, but Council Speaker Eugene Johnson claims she never got the motion.
“I have never received such a motion,” Johnson insisted, despite the DA showing proof.
DA councillor Morné Steyn, who filed the motion, says Johnson and the ANC are protecting Van Niekerk.
“I did submit the motion, I did so personally. It was signed and scanned and received by the speaker’s office and in fact, a representative of the speaker’s office confirmed the very next day to the Herald [newspaper] that it had been received,” he says.
At the eleventh hour, Johnson asked the council to vote on whether Van Niekerk should be removed or suspended. The ANC voted in favour of a suspension with 56 votes while the DA voted to remove him with 48 votes.
Pictured above: NMBM deputy mayor Gary van Niekerk sitting next to the executive mayor Babalwa Lobishe and chief whip Wandisile Jikeka.
Source: Anita Dangazele
