Cape Town suspends poo-thrower after it hits the fan on Facebook

Poo protester Loyiso Nkohla is knee-deep in trouble after the City of Cape Town placed him on “preliminary suspension” this week.

This followed an altercation between the council's head of community liaison and Anda Ntsodo‚ the mayoral committee member for community services‚ over a housing development in Site C‚ Khayelitsha.

The former Ses’Khona leader‚ infamous for flinging poo in a protest at Cape Town International Airport‚ then took to Facebook and accused Ntsodo of being a traitor.

“Anda Ntsodo DA Councillor don’t start with me‚ I don’t fight with sellouts‚ I will fight you Political and I’m Warning you‚” the post said.

Nkohla‚ whose “expanding influence within the city” was stressed in a report compiled last year by a commission headed by DA chief whip John Steenhuisen‚ is facing another disciplinary process. His Facebook attacks on Steenhuisen and other DA members landed him in a pile of trouble‚ and the matter is pending.

TimesLIVE has seen the “notification of provisional suspension” letter sent by the city to Nkohla on Tuesday.

“It is alleged that you have been involved in‚ inter alia‚ an incident/s of serious misconduct whereby you made derogatory‚ defamatory comments against various city officials and councillors on a social media platform (Facebook) for which you are currently facing disciplinary charges‚” the letter said.

“It has come to our attention that despite the disciplinary hearing having commenced you have persisted with similar conduct‚ which has a negative impact on service delivery.

“Your behaviour poses both safety and operational risk to the city and its stakeholders as you allegedly made threats against councillor Ntsodo on the same social media platform. These alleged incidences‚ among others‚ are viewed in a serious light which will require further action.”

Nkohla was instructed to make representations to Craig Kesson‚ a director in mayor Patricia de Lille’s office‚ by 1pm on Thursday.

Luthando Tyhalibongo‚ the city’s media manager‚ said: “Mr Nkohla has been placed on preliminary suspension with the right to motivate why he should not be placed on suspension pending the outcome of his disciplinary hearing.

“This was done after the Office of the Speaker received several complaints about continuing behaviour for which Mr Nkohla had been suspended.”

Nkoha said his conflict with Ntsodo started after he tried to fast-track the Khayelitsha development following a protest by residents. He said he drafted a report to De Lille and copied Ntsodo and other officials.

“Residents complained to me about a lack of basic services‚ including water and electricity. They haven’t had electricity since their project started in 2013. The city hasn’t moved an inch to ensure that their project is a success‚” he said.

Nkohla said while he was still consulting residents‚ Ntsodo ran a parallel process. “Out of the blue I received an e-mail on Friday from Ntsodo saying‚ ‘I appreciate the effort but don’t come to my area and undermine my office‚ don’t undermine the City of Cape Town administration protocol’‚ and so on. There were about 30 people copied on the e-mail‚ including directors‚” Nkohla said. “After an e-mail exchange I posted on Facebook that Ntsodo must not bring politics into the issue. This is a ploy to get rid of me.”

Nkohla vowed to defend himself and didn't rule out the possibility of legal action against the city.

Ntsodo declined to give details about his complaint to the city. “I can’t comment because I wasn’t given any information about this. Nothing came to my office as a member of the mayoral committee to say‚ ‘based on your complaint‚ Nkohla has been suspended’‚” said Ntsodo. “I am waiting.”