‘No prospects of success’: City of Joburg suffers court defeat over Floyd Brink appeal

The City of Johannesburg has suffered a blow in its bid to appeal a court ruling which declared Floyd Brink’s appointment as city manager unconstitutional.

The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg delivered its judgment on the city’s leave to appeal application on Monday.

The City of Joburg had lodged its application after the court ordered the metropolitan municipality earlier this month to reverse Brink’s appointment due to “unlawful” recruitment process followed in hiring him.

The metro was also ordered to allow the council to appoint an acting city manager within 10 working days.

‘Thousands of Rands wasted’

According to the Democratic Alliance (DA), Acting Judge Steven Budlender upheld his 7 November ruling in his latest judgment and dismissed the city’s application with costs, including the costs of two counsel.

“Having considered the three grounds of appeal raised during oral argument and the remaining grounds raised in the application for leave to appeal and heads of argument, I am of the view that the proposed appeal bears no prospects of success; and there is no other compelling reason for leave to appeal to be granted,” the judgment reads.

DA Johannesburg caucus leader, Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku welcomed the high court ruling, criticising the City of Joburg for wasting “hundreds of thousands of Rands in this cumbersome legal process the city continues to slide down the hill”.

“We pointed out earlier this month that Floyd Brink’s forced expulsion was yet another reason for the dissolution of the Johannesburg council. Today, our stance in this matter is, once more, vindicated.

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“The appointment of the city manager was yet another example of a corrupt regime, trying to deploy yet another one of their cadres. This is the reality of the City of Johannesburg, and the reason they are failing,” she said in a statement on Monday.

Kayser-Echeozonjoku previously claimed the DA believed the court’s initial ruling confirmed that Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda and now former speaker Colleen Makhubele had “blatantly flouted processes to ensure Brink’s deployment”.

The court found that the metropolitan municipality’s decision to cancel the advertising of the city manager’s position was unlawful.

It further concluded that the approval of the mayor’s decision to offer Brink a five-year fixed-term employment contract was invalid.

Minimum requirements

Brink appointed as city manager in a council meeting on 23 February this year.

He previously served as the city’s chief operating officer (COO) for four years before acting in the city manager position from February 2021.

The DA challenged Brink’s appointment in May on the basis that he did not meet the minimum requirements of the job specifications, which mandated 10 years’ senior management experience.

READ MORE: City of Joburg ‘flouting processes and it’s costing taxpayers’

The city, however, defended Brink, saying he held several senior positions in Limpopo.

In addition to this, Brink was placed on special leave in April 2022 over alleged misconduct committed during his time as acting city manager.

It was alleged that he flouted procurement processes in acquiring equipment worth R320 million, but the charges against him were dismissed at a council meeting in September.