Report cites maladministration and improper conduct by city manager. EFF demands full disclosure while parties clash over emergency services appointment.
The power struggles in the City of Tshwane continue with a renewed call for the city manager to be investigated following findings made in a report by the public protector.
EFF Tshwane caucus party leader and MMC of environment and agriculture Obakeng Ramabodu has formally written to city mayor Nasiphi Moya and council speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana to take action against city manager Johann Mettler.
Ramabodu has demanded the immediate tabling of the full public protector’s report on maladministration in the council and that its contents be made public without delay.
“The public protector, in its findings, implicates Mettler in his capacity as both city manager and chairperson of the selection panel. The report establishes serious procedural failures in the recruitment process under his oversight.
“The city manager failed to oversee and ensure compliance with the recruitment process properly,” he said.
Ramabodu said that Mettler did not ensure a mandatory screening report was completed prior to interviews as required, which was in direct contravention of Regulation 14(2). This regulation requires that screening must be completed before interviews start. However, the process proceeded without compliance.
“The public protector’s findings conclude that the conduct of the city manager amounts to maladministration and improper conduct. That his actions materially contributed to a flawed, irregular and non-compliant recruitment process. This represents a serious failure in governance, undermining the principles of transparency, fairness, legality, and accountability that must govern public administration,” Ramabodu added.
FF Plus rejects demands calling them ‘political theatrics’
He said the EFF in Tshwane formally demands that the full public protector’s report be tabled before the council immediately, without redaction or selective disclosure, followed by a formal process of consequence management without delay against all implicated officials and a report back to the council and public.
Freedom Front Plus Tshwane caucus leader Grandi Theunissen said they reject the latest demands by the EFF regarding the appointment of the head of emergency services.
“These demands are nothing more than political theatrics, aimed at destabilising sound governance rather than strengthening it. The head of emergency services has already been subjected to every possible forum from the Bargaining Council, the Labour Court, with a weak case, and the public protector… and all without any finding against him.
“The public protector confirmed that he meets the qualifications, experience and competencies required under the 2014 senior managers regulations. Importantly, the corrective measures prescribed are forward-looking and do not nullify the appointment itself,” he said.
Theunissen said challenging this decision in court would only be a waste of public money on unnecessary legal costs. DA mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said the EFF is a corruption racket operating as a political party.
Brink calls EFF a corruption racket
“Along with ActionSA, the EFF has been implicated in attempted tender rigging through evidence presented at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. Standing in the way of their looting spree in Tshwane is the city manager,” he said.
Brink said the DA will await further information on the findings of the public protector on the head of emergency services.
“If disciplinary steps have to be taken against officials involved in the HR process, that must happen. But nobody should be under any illusion as to what the EFF’s agenda is,” he said.
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