The ANC-led coalition governing the City of Tshwane appears to be planning to suspend its city manager Johann Mettler and haul him before a disciplinary hearing over a raft of misconduct allegations.
Africa Daily understands that the city plans to chug ahead with serving Mettler with a suspension notice , giving him seven days to explain why he should not be placed on precautionary suspension. Mettler is facing allegations of serious misconduct, financial misconduct, maladministration and gross dereliction of duty.
Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya tabled a confidential report before council on Thursday which Africa Daily has seen, recommending that the allegations be investigated. Council adopted the report, setting in motion the process that could ultimately lead to his suspension.
The move followed days of political discussions within the ANC-led coalition, with sources telling Africa Daily that Gauteng ANC chairperson Panyaza Lesufi personally engaged coalition caucuses in Tshwane in an effort to secure consensus on Mettler’s future.
According to sources, the ANC, the EFF and ActionSA ultimately aligned behind the move to remove the city manager, although some members within ActionSA were understood to have reservations about the decision.
“Panyaza Lesufi called caucuses in Tshwane to find common ground,” the source said.
“Essentially the EFF, ANC and ActionSA are calling for him to be removed. The coalition is in agreement but there are a few within ActionSA who seem to have reservations over the move.”
The source added: “It seems like others there believe the process should be done the right way but can’t really do anything about it because the rest of the caucus will not support it. But either way Mettler must go.”
The developments come just months before November’s local government elections, with the battle over Tshwane’s top administrator exposing deep divisions over governance, procurement and political control inside the governing coalition.
The report tabled before council incorporates a 45-page complaint submitted by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which accuses Mettler of a wide range of governance failures and recommends that he be suspended pending disciplinary proceedings.
The document, seen by Africa Daily, contains allegations relating to procurement processes, labour disputes, appointments of senior officials and broader governance failures.
It also relies on findings by oversight bodies including the Public Protector and the Auditor-General, as well as evidence emerging before the Madlanga Commission.
In motivating for Mettler’s suspension, the EFF argued that the allegations against him are “not a matter of political contestation” but are rooted in documented governance failures, including recommendations by the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC), alleged irregular appointments, the suppression of forensic reports, the handling of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works, the Hammanskraal water crisis and evidence emerging before the Madlanga Commission.
*The complaint identifies 21 allegations which the EFF says warrant disciplinary action against the city manager. They are:*
1. Public Protector findings of maladministration and the irregular recruitment of the chief of emergency services.
2. The alleged irregular appointment of Ashraf Adam as a Section 56 Governance and Support Officer and the failure to conduct mandatory vetting.
3. The alleged irregular appointment of Tshwane Metro Police Department deputy chief of police Revo Spies.
4. Failure to report the Revo Spies matter to the Mayoral Committee and withholding material information from political oversight.
5. The alleged irregular appointment of a deputy chief of police on a non-existent TMPD structure.
6. The alleged suppression of the Special Investigating Unit’s Rooiwal findings from council.
7. The alleged unlawful dismissal of 44 workers.
8. R37 million in alleged fruitless and wasteful expenditure relating to suspended officials.
9. The alleged victimisation of whistleblower and senior TMPD official Tshukudu Malatji.
10. Defiance of binding arbitration awards.
11. Contempt of court relating to the Tshwane Fresh Produce Market.
12. Unauthorised salary offers to labour unions without council approval.
13. Failure to prevent unauthorised, irregular and fruitless expenditure exceeding R5 billion identified by the Auditor-General.
14. Supply chain management deviations amounting to R284 million.
15. Failure to disclose the Nelson Mandela Bay report to council.
16. Failure to comply with mandatory disciplinary timeframes involving senior management.
17. Failure to hold the chief operations officer accountable following findings before the Madlanga Commission.
18. Gross dereliction of duty relating to the collapse of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Hammanskraal water crisis.
19. Failure to implement lifestyle audits on senior officials as directed by the Mayoral Committee.
20. Allegedly misleading the Mayoral Committee through false or evasive responses on governance matters.
21. Conduct amounting to serious misconduct, maladministration and financial misconduct flowing from the cumulative allegations.
Among the allegations highlighted by the EFF are findings by the Public Protector that Mettler presided over an irregular recruitment process for the city’s chief of emergency services after mandatory vetting requirements were allegedly ignored.
The complaint also accuses him of approving the appointments of Governance and Support Officer Ashraf Adam and TMPD deputy chief Revo Spies without complying with mandatory recruitment processes, while alleging that concerns surrounding Spies’ appointment were withheld from the Mayoral Committee.
Another key allegation centres on the Special Investigating Unit’s probe into the R295 million Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works refurbishment project. The EFF alleges that Mettler failed to table the SIU’s findings before council, shielding implicated officials from disciplinary action and frustrating efforts to recover about R147 million in alleged irregular and wasteful expenditure.
The complaint further accuses Mettler of unlawfully dismissing 44 municipal workers, exposing the municipality to liabilities estimated at more than R1 billion, while also citing R37 million in fruitless and wasteful expenditure paid to suspended officials during a single financial year.
The party said that the cumulative effect of the allegations justified precautionary suspension, warning that Mettler’s continued presence in office could compromise investigations, expose the city to further financial losses and undermine public confidence in the administration.
While the ANC-led coalition appears to have rallied behind the process, the move has exposed fresh political divisions within Tshwane.
Sources within the Democratic Alliance questioned the timing of the move, arguing that Mettler had earned the hostility of several political parties because of his handling of procurement matters and efforts to act against officials implicated in corruption.
“You need to question why they suddenly want to enter the procurement space,” the source said.
“Because parties want funding ahead of the elections? This is silly season.”
Another source claimed that efforts to remove Mettler were linked to attempts to reverse disciplinary action involving officials implicated in the Rooiwal matter.
“These guys are responsible for Section 66 officials who report directly to the accounting officer. Yes, council can fire Mettler, but not Obakeng Ramabodu from the EFF. These guys want to bring the Rooiwal guys back and the looting continues,” the source alleged.
The DA has publicly echoed those concerns, accusing the ANC, EFF and ActionSA of pursuing what it describes as politically motivated allegations against Mettler.
DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink argued that the complaint was not driven by evidence of wrongdoing but by attempts to remove a city manager who had resisted irregular procurement practices.
“The complaint was sent to Mayor Nasiphi Moya not because there is evidence that Johann Mettler committed wrongdoing, but because he stands in the way of tender rigging,” Brink said.
According to the DA, suspending Mettler could pave the way for the appointment of an acting city manager more willing to approve procurement decisions that had previously been questioned or blocked. The party said it would report the matter to law enforcement authorities and consult its legal team to ensure governance within the metro is not compromised.
ActionSA, however, dismissed the DA’s criticism, arguing that the process now unfolding is required by law rather than driven by politics.
ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said allegations against a municipal manager automatically trigger procedures contained in the Disciplinary Regulations for Senior Managers, requiring them to be tabled before council.
He stressed that ActionSA neither initiated the complaint nor predetermined its outcome, saying the allegations had been submitted by the EFF.
“ActionSA will apply its own mind to the decision-making process,” Beaumont said.
“No amount of theatrics from the opposition will see ActionSA looking the other way should investigations warrant consequence management, and no pressure from our coalition partners will see ActionSA choosing political expedience over good government,” he said.