Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Babalwa Lobishe contends with allegations of financial misconduct as the Hawks and Public Protector are asked to investigate claims of a frozen bank account. A former Good party regional chairperson has been issued with a cease-and-desist letter by Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) Mayor Babalwa Lobishe’s lawyers, in a bid to stop him from making scathing allegations against her on Facebook. Siyanda Mayana alleged that Lobishe received about R450,000 in transactions in her Capitec Bank account in December, an account he says has since been “frozen” by the financial institution.
The municipality’s budget and treasury political head, Khanya Ngqisha, said his Capitec account had also been frozen, but later claimed he had been joking. Lobishe and Ngqisha discussed the matter at Tuesday’s mayoral committee meeting, attributing the bank account issues to routine compliance with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (Fica). A bank account can be frozen (or paused) due to issues with account verification, often to protect funds or comply with regulations, suspicious activity (fraud, money laundering), legal orders (unpaid debts, taxes, child support), government action or inactivity, restricting withdrawals and transfers until the issue is resolved.
Lobishe has categorically denied insinuations of unethical activity in her account, stating that it was paused and not frozen, and that she was not the only NMB councillor affected. Mayana posted to Facebook on Monday, writing: “I’m tired of pretending. Why are your bank accounts frozen, Babalwa Lobishe?” In another post, he wrote: “I received the money from Luthuli House, I don’t know why they sent me the money.
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Allegedly, that’s the mayor’s explanation.” Later that day, Mayana alleged in a post that Lobishe received R65,000, R80,000 and R250,000 on 18 December. On Tuesday, Mayana posted: “Babalwa Lobishe, did you receive R450,000 in your Capitec account in December 2025?” Mayana approached the Hawks’ Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit in Gqeberha and registered a case for investigation.
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