Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Gary van Niekerk has confirmed sending a letter to Boqwana Burns Incorporated for legal services but said this was done in defence of the municipality in his capacity as the former speaker of council.
Though he was not the speaker of the Nelson Mandela Bay council for five months in 2022, National Alliance president Gary van Niekerk used the official letterhead and signatory of the office to appoint a law firm and rack up R551,586 worth of legal bills.
The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality will start negotiations for an out-of-court settlement to resolve a R92m legal dispute over security cameras that has dragged on for years.
While councillors poked holes in the city’s R19.1bn budget that was adopted in council on Wednesday, opposition parties were unimpressed by Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Gary van Niekerk’s plan for his first 100 days in office.
A Nelson Mandela Bay council meeting took a biblical turn on Wednesday as mayor Gary van Niekerk and his detractors turned to the scriptures while taking potshots at each other.