Nelson Mandela Bay road repairs delayed after contracts lapse

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05-12-2025
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HeraldLive
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Mayor gives assurance that new agreements will be in place by Monday

The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has no contract in place at present for pothole repairs or the painting of road markings.

This was confirmed by mayor Babalwa Lobishe, who pleaded with residents to be patient as the metro addressed the issue of evergreen contracts.

An evergreen contract is an agreement that automatically renews unless one party gives formal notice to terminate it.

These contracts have long been a flashpoint in the metro, with councillors repeatedly complaining about the continued use of certain service providers.

“We’re trying to put systems in place. There will be irritation. We want you to pardon us,” Lobishe said.

“I want to request this to all our residents, there is going to be a little bit of irritation around the non-availability of services because we’re trying to close some of the evergreen contracts, and we’ll have to wait for procurement to start.

“In infrastructure and engineering, there are evergreen contracts on sewer contracts that have been extended for more than 15 years.

“We know there’s an extension on roads, hence there is this delay.”

She said new contractors would be in place by Monday.

“Contractors were meant to be appointed as early as a month ago.

“On the contracts, particularly on roads, there are disputes.

“We’ve sat down with the city manager [Lonwabo Ngoqo].

“There is a plan for us to have contractors in place on Monday so that work can proceed,” she said.

Lobishe was taken to task by DA councillor Rano Kayser about the contracts.

He said the mayor had mentioned nothing about service delivery in her opening address to the council.

“The mayor spoke about everything except the current situation in the city.

“She never touched on the fact that there is no contract in place for the resurfacing of roads, the maintenance of roads and the closing of roads.

“The reason we are here today is to accept a Section 154 because of the failures of the political leadership.

“It was the MEC that said water leaks are not being repaired, potholes are not fixed and roads are not maintained,” he said.

The triennial road maintenance contract ended in October after being extended for a year.

The contracts were also a hot topic at a roads and transport committee meeting, where the city’s director of transport, Givon van Eyck, admitted that the city did not even have asphalt in stores.

The officials were also taken to task for claiming an instruction from the National Treasury prohibited further deviations on contracts.

Acting infrastructure and engineering director Barry Martin later admitted that no instruction had ever been issued.