The GOOD Party said on Friday it strongly believes that Nelson Mandela Bay Deputy Mayor Gary van Niekerk should have been permanently relieved of his duties.

The party accused the coalition in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality of protecting Van Niekerk by suspending him instead of relieving him of his duties.

Van Nierkerk is under investigation by the Hawks for cybercrime in 2022 and the contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act, for which he appeared in court on Thursday.

He faced internal issues with his party, the Northern Alliance (NA), which resulted in him not attending council for almost 6 months.

GOOD Councillor Lawrence Troon said there was no provision in law for the suspension of a political office bearer, describing it as an unlawful and illegitimate “soft landing” for Van Niekerk.

Troon said the coalition between the African National Congress, Economic Freedom Fighters, Defenders Of The People, NA, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, African Independent Congress and the Abantu Integrity Movement chose to save Van Niekerk from a motion of no confidence and declared that fraud and corruption would continue under this new coalition.

Troon pointed out that a council meeting was originally scheduled for November 28 but was postponed twice, which he said was a ploy to avoid the vote of no confidence brought against Van Niekerk.

He explained that during his absence from council, Van Niekerk allegedly irregularly and directly sought a legal opinion, for party political purposes, despite being informed not to do so by the acting municipal manager.

“The municipality was billed for the work and has been in a dispute over the fees for the past two years. A multi-party committee has already investigated the issue and found Gary Van Niekerk unanimously guilty of breaching the code of conduct,” Troon said.

He stated that Van Niekerk was also previously accused of abusing municipal vehicles for “personal joyrides, seriously damaging at least three, as well as an external rental car”.

“In December last year, when he was still the mayor, he travelled to China and did not report to Council, nor did he disclose all the details and related costs. His actions and decisions have demonstrated a lack of commitment to the principles of good governance, transparency, and accountability,” Troon said.

Van Niekerk will remain an ordinary councillor and will still have a vote on municipality business, he pointed out.