UPDATE: DA to lay criminal charges against Bobani for allegedly lying about gun incident

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Nelson Mandela Bay will be pressing charges against the municipality’s mayor, the United Democratic Movement’s (UDM) Mongameli Bobani, who they alleged lied about having had a gun pulled on him at Port Elizabeth City Hall.

The party held a press conference on Monday in a bid to “expose the truth” behind an alleged security brief that Bobani had made claims about in the media.

They announced they would be opening a case of defamation against Bobani for allegedly wrongfully accusing Danisile Ngobo of smuggling a gun into City Hall and confronting him with it.

DispatchLive reported in February that a man carrying a gun had easily made his way through security, sitting for hours waiting at City Hall until he had a chance to confront Bobani, who alleged that he pulled a gun on him and demanded the municipality grant him a free house.

According to the Ngobo, a former SANDF member, he did meet Bobani after his house burnt down, but did not have a gun.

Mayor Bobani refused to comment on the incident due to an ongoing investigation, with the mayor’s spokesperson, George Geleba, confirming that an internal investigation into the matter was being carried out by the metro’s security division.

“An investigation by the DA into the reported incident has found it to be devoid of any truth,” a statement issued by the party alleges.

“Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor, Cllr Mongameli Bobani, and his ANC-led coalition of corruption, has decided to place the lives of a Port Elizabeth family in danger in what seems to be an attempt to reinstate a security contractor at the municipality,” said former DA mayor Athol Trollip, the party’s federal chairperson.

“This follows after Mayor Bobani alleged that on 25 February 2019 an unknown man threatened him with a firearm in his mayoral office in City Hall.

“On the 28th of February 2019, in a sworn statement to the Metro’s Safety and Security Directorate, Mr Danisile Ngobo, the man being accused of this act, indicated that he never threatened the Mayor. In fact, he does not own a firearm or have a license to carry a firearm.

“Today, 1 April 2019, I was joined by DA EC Premier Candidate, Nqaba Bhanga, and Mr Ngobo, in an effort to clear his name.

“Mr Ngobo was well known to Cllr Bobani, his mayoral staff, and the Safety and Security Directorate, as he had a previous meeting with the Mayor in connection with seeking assistance, after his house burned down. Mr Ngobo and the Mayor have in the past also exchanged Whatsapp messages.

“On the day of the alleged incident, Mr Ngobo had an appointment with the Mayor and was even joined by his wife and daughter in Cllr Bobani’s office.

“All of this seems to be an attempt to bring Afrisec Strategic Solutions back into the fray to take over security systems at the Metro. Afrisec’s irregular contract, which forms part of contracts worth R600 million that were stopped by the previous DA-led government due to irregular procurement, was terminated in 2016.

“Mr Ngobo and his family are now fearful for their lives, as they don’t understand the reasons behind the allegations.

“The DA will continue to expose irregular and unlawful decisions made by the Municipality’s ANC/EFF/UDM coalition of corruption and criminality.

“In December 2018 I wrote to the Public Protector about the many irregular decisions taken by Mayor Bobani and the coalition of corruption.

“I am now also going to write to the Ministers of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and Justice, as well as the Premier of the Eastern Cape, the MEC for COGTA and Treasury to highlight these irregular activities.

“Sec. 120 (6) of the Firearms Control Act 60 of 2000 state it is a criminal act and offence to point a firearm. It carries a jail sentence of 10 years.

“Mr Ngobo’s rights were infringed on and we will seek protection for him. We have also assisted him in laying a charge of crimen injuria at the Humewood Police Station.

“We also challenge the media, the Police and Metro Police to get to the bottom of this case.”

The ANC, UDM, EFF, AIC, United Front, and UDM formed a coalition in August 2018 and managed to remove Trollip as mayor through a vote of no confidence, replacing him with the UDM’s Bobani.

The former governing coalition of the DA, Congress of the People (Cope), and African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) took the matter to court, arguing that the motion of no confidence that removed Trollip was “illegal”, but this the case was dismissed with costs.

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