ANC leader Lungisa wants Coega accountable to city hall — Daily Maverick
African National Congress National Executive Committee member Andile Lungisa said that if elected mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality in Gqeberha, South Africa, he would seek to make the Coega Development Corporation accountable to local authorities. The corporation currently reports to the Eastern Cape provincial government.
As Daily Maverick reports, Lungisa addressed representatives of small, medium and micro businesses at Gqeberha City Hall. He criticized the influence of the ANC leadership in the Eastern Cape on city affairs and said the municipal authorities would not ask the province for permission to make decisions.
Plans for Coega
The politician claims that the land of the Coega industrial zone belongs to the municipality, so the city should have a say in the corporation's operations. According to Lungisa, if the ANC takes control of the municipality, Coega's chief executive and board of directors should report to the municipality rather than to other bodies.
Lungisa also said that Coega has moved away from its original goal of industrializing the area and is now more focused on project management. He said he wants to change this approach after the elections. According to him, he does not understand the concerns about his possible management of an institution worth 24 billion rand.
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Dispute over the electoral list
Lungisa was not included on the ANC's proportional list of candidates for the municipal council. He claims that 35 of 60 party branches supported him, and earlier this month he filed an urgent application with the High Court against ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula over his exclusion from the list.
In his court application, Lungisa stated that he is not seeking to change the list already submitted to the Independent Electoral Commission. He seeks recognition that his exclusion was unlawful under the ANC's internal rules, as well as confirmation that he remains the party's duly nominated number one candidate for mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay.
Among Lungisa's other election promises are the expropriation of abandoned and unused buildings in the fifth ward, their renovation to revitalize the city centre, the removal of asbestos from old RDP houses, and the involvement of local small businesses in cleaning neighbourhoods. He said the ANC must win a majority to ensure stable governance of the municipality, as coalitions with a large number of small parties, in his view, create instability.
