ANC and EFF fight Tshwane mayor’s city manager recommended person – again

The ANC and EFF have slammed the shortlisting of Johann Mettler – a former Nelson Mandela Bay metro city manager – for the long-vacant Tshwane metro city manager post as “cadre deployment”.

Tshwane has had acting city managers since 2019 after the ousting of Moeketsi Mosola following the multi-billion rand irregular GladAfrica contract.

Mmasabata Mutlaneng has been the acting city manager since 2020 after she was appointed by temporary administrators that led the metro for seven months when the municipality was placed under administration. Mutlaneng made the top five shortlist for the permanent position.

The interviews for the most senior administrative position in the municipality have now been concluded and the mayoral office has shortlisted the top three candidates. The EFF and ANC have, however, opposed the recommended person, which could delay the appointment and affect service delivery negatively.

The first recommended candidate was Mettler. Mettler was a former Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) metro city manager appointed by minister Pravin Gordhan and Danny Jordan when that municipality had problems in 2015.

When the DA took over the NMB in 2016, it again appointed Mettler in the position. He left the NMB in 2018 when the coalition government had problems and the UDM took over.

Mettler had also applied for the same position in the DA-led Johannesburg metro, but was not so lucky. This was after the EFF accused mayor Mpho Phalatse of favouring him after the two had a meeting a day before the post was advertised. Now, he has faced the same pushback from opposition parties in Tshwane.

The EFF and ANCYL claim that the mayor’s office will have undue influence on Mettler, and his appointment is “cadre deployment”.

The EFF also accused Mettler of being suspended in NMB due to an alleged unlawful extension of a communication agency’s contract.

The DA’s Eastern Cape leader, Nqaba Bhanga, however, dismissed this allegation as nothing but a “political stance”

“Mettler was never charged or found guilty of approving any irregular contract. The NMB had a separation agreement with Mettler because of a broken relationship between Mettler and the UDM mayor,” Bhanga told Rekord.

Tshwane mayor’s spokesperson Sipho Stuurman said the ANCYL and EFF comments were “frivolous and baseless”.

“The youth league particularly is seeking relevance and trying to resurrect themselves after years of being irrelevant,” he said.

Stuurman said the recruitment process was fair, saying it was run by multi-party councillors of DA, ActionSA and Freedom Front Plus, as well as independent panel members.

Mettler’s appointment will be tabled at the council on July 28 for approval.

Tshwane coalition partner ActionSA was also expected to still discuss its support for Mettler. The party has not yet made it public whether it would vote with its coalition partners in support of Mettler. Without ActionSA’s support, Mettler might not be appointed.

When asked for comment, Mettler declined.

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