Chippa United’s principal sponsors Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality have blasted the club’s chairman Siviwe Mpengesi after coach Norman Mapeza unceremoniously left the side on Monday.

The Zimbabwean gaffer tendered in his resignation following a reported fallout with his boss who wanted him sacked if he had lost the weekend’s match against AmaZulu.

The 47-year old resigned after five months in charge. His departure has not gone down well with the Port Elizabeth acting executive mayor Marlon Daniels.

Daniels has issued a strong-worded statement, describing Mpengesi as a visionary-lacking leader.

Here is a statement by the acting mayor:

On behalf of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, I would like to express our serious concern about the recent resignation of Chippa United [coach] Norman Mapeza.

Over the past two seasons, we have seen the team frequently changing coaches and senior managers. It was Dan Malesela, Eric Tinkler, Joel Masutha, Clinton Larsen, Duran Francis and now Mapeza, whom we are told decided to resign.

What worries us most is that all these changes or firing of coaches and managers have been characterised by a lack of visionary leadership, a clumsy management style and an obvious lack of understanding of the business of football.

We believe that this style of management is the reason why the team has found itself fighting for [sic] relegation every season, including the current season. As the main sponsor of the team and a partner who really has the best interest of the team at heart, we call upon the management of Chippa United to shape up.

Our City has invested a lot of ratepayers money into this team. This team carries the dreams and aspirations of young footballers of our city and province. If things continue like this, we might not be lucky this time to survive the relegation axe.