#NMB #Coalition PwC Draft Report: #UDM Reaction: DA Leader must apologise

Dear Mr Maimane

NELSON MANDELA BAY COALITION: UDM REACTION TO DA’S USE OF PwC “DRAFT REPORT” TO BESMIRCH OUR CLLR BOBANI AND THE UDM: APOLOGY REQUIRED FROM YOU AND YOUR PARTY

I refer to the “draft report” which had been prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in terms of which the Democratic Alliance (DA) had masterminded a dubious campaign to remove from office the United Democratic Movement (UDM) Deputy Executive Mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM), Cllr Mongameli Bobani, under false pretences. The DA has very publicly, consciously and concertedly undermined one of its coalition partners.

You had relied on an embargoed PwC “draft report”, which we certainly would not have seen had we not demanded a copy at a meeting of coalition partners on 22 August 2017 - only two days ahead of the DA bulldozing a questionable motion of no-confidence in Cllr Bobani through Council.

The fecklessness of the “draft report” forced you to keep it secret, but it did not preclude you from (ab)using it. You and your colleagues have publicly criticised me (personally) and the UDM, saying that we condone corruption.

The DA based its whole concerted campaign to get rid of Cllr Bobani, and besmirching the good name of the UDM, on a document in which PwC had not expressed an opinion and it had been clear that the document was preliminary.

Little wonder that you kept it hidden in your briefcase as there is nothing in the “report”, contrary to your public misrepresentations, implicating Cllr Bobani.

It is highly suspicious and abnormal that the accused, his party, the coalition partners and the NMBMM Council itself had been kept in the dark about the “draft report”. Yet, the “draft report” was given to you personally? Why were you, as a national leader of a political party, privy to this information at all? Is this a “municipality document” or a “DA document”?

What were/are your and the DA’s motives in keeping this “draft report” to yourselves and using the information to attack the UDM?

Another inaccuracy which the DA has peddled is that the UDM voted with the African National Congress (ANC) in the NMBMM Council. Firstly, differing from the DA is not tantamount to voting with the ANC. Secondly, your attention is drawn to our Co-Governance Agreement, where it is clearly stated that, should the coalition partners not agree on an agenda item, that item should be withdrawn for further discussion. Yet, your Executive Mayor, Cllr Athol Trollip, did not honour this arrangement and forced items onto the Council agenda, thus painting the other coalition partners into a corner, where the only option was to not vote in favour of an item we could not support.

The case, currently underway in the Port Elizabeth High Court, is an opportunity for you to explain yourselves to the South African public and the voters of the NMBMM in particular.

Lastly Sir, I submit that you and your colleagues have actively misled the public on this matter. The UDM would like to see you publicly and unreservedly withdraw your unsubstantiated accusations and apologise to me, to Cllr Bobani and to the UDM. Prove to the Nation that you are better than the manipulative, destructive liars within the ANC who you purport to oppose.

Yours truly
Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP
President of the United Democratic Movement

Issued by the UDM, 13 September 2017