Controversial ADM councillor Nyatela resigns

Former mayoral committee member leaves after months of infighting over hiring of former municipal manager

Former Amathole District Municipality mayoral committee member for engineering and infrastructure services Nomfesane Nyatela has finally resigned as a councillor in the municipality.

Nyatela’s resignation is effective from Friday.

She leaves after months of being at loggerheads with the ANC in the province over the controversial hiring and subsequent sacking of former municipal manager Thandekile Mnyimba.

Nyatela angered the party when she filed an affidavit with the high court which boosted Mnyimba’s case to stay in his job.

The ANC was against Mnyimba being given another term and had instructed her to withdraw the affidavit, which she resisted.

Nyatela was then a casualty after the then new mayor Anele Ntsangani reshuffled her out of his executive, making her an ordinary councillor.

She was further in the spotlight after the Hawks raided her offices in ADM and later her home, relating to their investigation into companies she had previously owned.

Nyatela is a well-known boxing promoter and an ally of former ADM secretary Teris Ntutu.

In a copy of her resignation letter, which the Daily Dispatch has seen, she does not outline the reasons for her departure but states she is resigning from the municipality as a PR councillor and asks that she be released on March 24.

“It has been an honour serving the electorate of our municipality,” she adds.

Nyatela leaves with a cloud over her head despite attempts to clear her name through the municipality’s public accounts committee, which were thwarted when the ADM council failed to adopt a report from the committee clearing her.

The MPAC had followed up on allegations that Nyetala had failed to declare her involvement in a company that did work for the ADM.

Nyatela has always maintained she had resigned from all her companies before taking up a seat as a councillor at ADM.

But council, during a meeting late in January, resolved to ask for the matter to be deferred.

They also requested external legal advice, together with a report from the auditor-general which had flagged the issue.

Council speaker Onke Mgunculu confirmed that he had received the letter of resignation from Nyatela.

He said a vacancy would be declared and the ANC would then fill the vacancy from its list.

Mgunculu declined to comment on the MPAC investigation.

Nyatela confirmed that she had resigned but said it was unfortunate she was leaving with pending issues under her name.

“Yes, I have resigned as a councillor at Amathole District Municipality effective on March 24.

“It is rather unfortunate that I leave with all these issues pending.

“I must indicate that I am looking forward to the completion of the investigation by ADM council which is being conducted by external lawyers while their internal lawyers, including MPAC, had already cleared me of any wrongdoing.

“As soon as I am afforded an opportunity to engage the contents of the investigation report by external lawyers as commissioned by the ADM Council, together with my legal team, we will engage on it and on the way forward,” Nyatela said.

It has been an honour serving the electorate of our municipality