Former Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality mayor Athol Trollip says city council speaker Buyelwa Mafaya's excuse for not knowing about the failure of a council meeting appeal is hogwash.

According to a HeraldLIVE report, Mafaya said she was so sick with Covid-19 that she had been unaware that her appeal against an order to call a council meeting had failed and she was therefore not in contempt.

However, Trollip said Mafaya was “a drama queen of the highest order”.

On Twitter, he said Mafaya's contempt of the citizens and institutions of the city was "unparalleled".

“What a load of rubbish,” said Trollip. “People like her must feel the consequences of their contempt and a personal cost order against her is apposite.”

Mafaya was compelled by the high courts in Makhanda and Port Elizabeth to call the special council meeting to elect a new mayor. However, she delayed it to December 4, citing Covid-19 regulations.

Currently, the metro's acting mayor is Thsonono Buyeye, who was appointed last year after the late former mayor Mongameli Bobani was booted out through a no-confidence motion.

Mafaya said she was never made aware that her application for leave to appeal against the order of the high court had been dismissed on November 10 and therefore had the right to pursue alternative legal remedies, such as a petition to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). She said she had been off sick from October 30 to November 20, after testing positive for Covid-19.

Mafaya said her reasons for deciding to postpone the meeting were also taken out of context.