The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Nelson Mandela Bay has applied to the high court to hold Mayor Babalwa Lobishe and former acting city manager Ted Pillay personally liable for costs arising from the leasing of a R25-million municipal asset to a private company. The DA's court bid comes as Lobishe faces a separate legal issue, with the Sheriff armed with a writ that could see her movable assets attached and potentially auctioned to recover R82,970.88 in legal costs.
The DA's application relates to the lease of a 132/kV, 63 MVA municipal transformer, valued at about R25-million, to private company Coega Steels in August 2025. Pillay and Lobishe signed off on the lease after Coega Steels' transformer failed, putting about 600 jobs at risk. The company was losing R700,000 a day due to the failure, according to a report to the mayoral committee.
Lobishe gave the green light for the lease between 4 and 8 September 2025, despite the City's Budget and Treasury directorate raising several concerns. The lease was finalised by 11 September 2025, with a rental agreement of R250,000 a month for 12 months. However, at a council meeting in October 2025, the DA pointed out that the lease was recorded on a document that looked like it was "bought at PNA or Clicks", with handwritten annotations.
The DA's court papers state that Lobishe and Pillay should be held personally liable for, among other matters, the cost of attorneys fighting the judicial review and any costs incurred. The party hopes to recover costs related to the unlawful lease, which it says will include hundreds of thousands of rands in wasteful expenditure.
Lobishe has strongly defended the decision to lease the transformer to Coega Steels, maintaining that it was necessary to safeguard jobs and protect the local economy. However, during a parliamentary cooperative governance and traditional affairs committee meeting in April, she acknowledged that the lease had not been properly authorised and was irregular.
Lobishe said the City had not incurred any cost related to the leasing of the transformer, and that the municipality benefited from the transformer being leased to Coega Steels. The company has since returned the municipality's movable asset and acquired its own.
The ANC Provincial Integrity Commission investigation into the transformer saga found no evidence that Lobishe acted improperly, but the DA's Ondela Kepe said it was "quite interesting" that the Speaker's Office had ignored a motion to hold Lobishe accountable.
Key points
- DA applies to court to make Nelson Mandela Bay mayor and former acting city manager pay for leasing municipal asset to private company
- The lease was for a R25-million municipal transformer to private company Coega Steels in August 2025
- Lobishe and Pillay may be held personally liable for costs arising from the leasing of the municipal asset
