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Newly appointed mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay Mongameli Bobani, received an unexpected visit to his office from the Hawks this week - barely two months into his new job.
News24 has learnt that officers from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, popularly known as the Hawks, visited the municipal building and went to Bobani, armed with a search warrant.
It is alleged that the Hawks are investigating the municipality's Integrated Public Transport System.
Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi confirmed that his colleagues in the Eastern Cape raided the building on Wednesday.
Mulaudzi said officers had a warrant to search for and seize documents and computers from the municipality.
"It is an ongoing investigation which relates to fraud, corruption and money laundering. At the moment, we have not identified a suspect. But, we have seized documents, computers and electric devices to assist our investigation," he said.
However, Bobani's spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki could not confirm that a raid had taken place.
Instead, he said he would only comment on the matter "up until we have information that is factual. We will then know what to say".
Bobani, who was the former deputy mayor of the municipality when it was led by the DA's Athol Trollip, has been in the post for less than two months.
He was elected mayor in August following a motion of no confidence in Trollip that was supported by the ANC, EFF, and the UDM.
Last week, Trollip told the media that the ANC-UDM government in Nelson Mandela Bay would not make it to the local government elections in 2021.
READ:Trollip predicts ANC-UDM govt's demise in Nelson Mandela Bay
"If you give someone enough rope, they'll hang themselves," he said.
Trollip's relationship with Bobani quickly soured.
The Eastern Cape High Court in Port Elizabeth recently upheld Bobani's election as mayor.
