By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
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.
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.
The city filed an application for leave to appeal after the same court declared Brink’s appointment unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid.
Brink was appointed in February this year under the administration of former mayor Thapelo Amad.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) challenged his appointment in May.
The party claims Brink did not meet the minimum requirements of the job specifications, which mandated 10 years of senior management experience.
The DA’s Johannesburg caucus leader, Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku, says the party’s goal has always been to safeguard the citizens of Johannesburg against the illegal conduct of coalition partners in the city.
“Judge Budlender not only dismissed the leave to appeal but did so with the costs of two councils, paid for by the residents of Johannesburg.
“While the executive has wasted hundreds of thousands of rands in this cumbersome legal process, the city continues to slide down the hill. Our goal has always been to safeguard the citizens of Johannesburg against the illegal conduct that the ANC/EFF/PA Doomsday Coalition is so well known for. This underscores that commitment to constitutionality and the rule of law.”
Brink previously served as the city’s chief operating officer (COO) for four years before acting in the city manager position from February 2021.
AmaBhungane has reported that Brink was a controversial figure in the metro because of his alleged historical links to Julius Malema and the EFF. In April 2013, while a manager at the Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport, Brink was arrested as part of a sweeping corruption investigation that implicated officials and businesspeople.
The same investigation netted Malema, in addition to several associates of the then ANC Youth League leader, including his cousin Tshepo Malema. Brink was tried and acquitted in 2013. The other cases went nowhere.
Brink has had his hands full dealing with crisis after crisis in recent months. In July, one person was killed, and several others injured after a gas explosion ripped through parts of Lillian Ngoyi Street (formerly Bree Street).
In August, at least 77 people were killed and 50 injured in a raging fire at a five-storey hijacked building on the corner of Albert and Delvers streets in Marshalltown.
In September, a fire caused by faulty transformers at the Joburg Metro Centre shut down the building responsible for administering the city. Following this, a bid evaluation committee sought Brink’s approval for a R2-billion refurbishment of the building.
Although Judge Budlender ordered that Brink’s appointment be reversed, he said decisions made during his tenure would remain in place.
Fullview approached the Joburg metro spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane for request for comment but He did not respond at the time of publishing.