By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Tshwane has dismissed the African National Congress’ (ANC) claims that City Manager Johann Mettler’s appointment was unlawful.
Speaking at a press briefing DA Caucus leader Cilliers Brink outlined the party’s stance in response to the ANC’s recent press conference announcing intentions to review and possibly overturn Mettler’s 2022 appointment.
“I warned the mayor against any move to have Mettler’s appointment terminated or to use baseless legal arguments to pressure him to resign, said Brink.”
He accused the ANC coalition of aiming to replace Mettler, who is an independent non-political professional, with one of their own deployed cadres.”
Brink noted that these efforts intensified after Mettler refused to drop the city’s case against the “Rooiwal Five”, officials implicated in an irregular tender linked to businessman Edwin Sodi.
He defended Mettler’s credentials, saying: “As for Mettler’s qualifications and experience, he served as the municipal manager in Drakenstein, Nelson Mandela Bay, where incidentally an ANC minister got him to lead the intervention team in that city in 2015.
”In fact, Mettler’s experience goes back to the 1990s when he was involved in the drafting of the White Paper on local government.”
He confirmed that Mettler has since completed the required Municipal Finance Management Act courses, and the finance ministry or treasury had raised no concerns.
Brink also highlighted that no objections were raised by either the Gauteng MEC for Local Government or National Treasury at the time of Mettler’s appointment.
Brink further warned that the ANC plans to call a special council meeting to invalidate Mettler’s appointment on “technical grounds,” a move the DA intends to oppose through legal and council processes.
Mettler holds an LLM from Lund University in Sweden, and an LLB and BProc from the University of the Western Cape.