GOOD Statement by Lawrence Troon,
GOOD Nelson Mandela Bay Councillor
15 January 2024
The GOOD party in Nelson Mandela Bay has opened two cases of fraud and corruption against EFF councilor Khanya Nqgisha amid allegations of bribery and abuse of Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) funds.
In the first case, it’s understood Nqgisha attempted to solicit a R1 million bribe from multi-billion rand company, Hive Energy, in return for support to get a project in Coega approved by Council.
This blatant attempt at corruption is shocking and completely unacceptable, and such behaviour has no place in our society, especially not in Council. This is an important project for the development of the community and any attempt at using it for self-enrichment is strongly condemned.
Furthermore, GOOD has learned that Nqgisha has been facilitating the payment of EPWP stipends to a group of students who do not qualify for the payments, nor have they done any work to receive any form of payment.
The EPWP is intended for the poor and unemployed people of the community, and not for corrupt activities aimed at securing political support for EFF members. The EPWP stipends are paid from the mayoral vote and it’s clear Nqgisha is using dodgy political leverage to abuse this.
The corruption-riddled Nelson Mandela Bay metro has been devastated by selfish leaders who are simply in there to exploit their office and abuse public money.
This has to end if there now is any hope of turning the community around and getting the city back on track for its residents.
Media Enquiries:
Lawrence Troon, GOOD Nelson Mandela Bay Councillor
Cell: 081 828 8518
Email: Lawrencetroon1@gmail.com
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 073 367 1223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za