Mettler <\/strong><\/p>\nMettler has a long track record in municipal administration. He took over the running of the Msunduzi municipality in 2010 after it had descended into \u201cturmoil\u201d and was placed under administration. He ran the Drakenstein municipality before becoming city manager of the fractious Nelson Mandela Bay metro, from which he was suspended in September 2018, accused of unlawfully extending the scope of a contract with a communications firm.<\/p>\n
Mettler\u2019s suspension came in the wake of the collapse of a DA-led coalition in Nelson Mandela Bay, which saw Mayor Athol Trollip ousted in August 2018 and replaced with the UDM\u2019s Mongameli Bobani. Mettler\u2019s suspension was widely seen as part of the power play and the metro later settled with him.<\/p>\n
Trollip says of Mettler: \u201cHe was acting CM when I became mayor in NMB so I didn’t appoint him, he was seconded there\u00a0by Pravin Gordhan because he’d done an extraordinary job in Msunduzi\u2026 he is regarded as something of a \u2018Mr fix it\u2019 in local government.”<\/p>\n
Two of the five members that made up the interview panel, one from the ActionSA and one from the ACDP, were in favour of nominating Brink, but the scores from the three remaining panellists\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Phalatse, another DA member, and an external expert\u00a0\u2014\u00a0gave Mettler the edge.<\/p>\n
Council will have to vote on whether or not to accept the interview panel\u2019s recommendation to appoint Mettler. If the motion is rejected, then the recruitment process will likely have to start over.<\/p>\n
The EFF and ANC are expected to vote against the motion to appoint Mettler. If ActionSA votes with them or abstains, the recommendation will not pass.<\/p>\n
One senior DA source suspects that the EFF are trying to rush the appointment process through Council before the forensic report implicating Brink is tabled or made public.<\/p>\n
The EFF\u2019s statement, dated 22 February 2022, accused the DA of stalling: \u201cWe call on the mayor of Johannesburg to take us into confidence as the rate payers and residence of this city and explain to us, what is\/are the course\/s of the delay which prevented the tabling of the item which recommends the appointment of the city manager in todays\u2019 council sitting as per the norm after such interviews has been conducted and completed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another senior DA source told amaBhungane that \u201cActionSA worked very hard to pull some of the coalition partners into a network to oppose Mettler.\u00a0 The key priority was to keep him out\u2026 At the same time this small group, led by ActionSA, supported Brink in the selection panel, but they still lost the nomination.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen it became their priority to stop Mettler’s name going forward, and the strategy unfolded of trying to imply that the process had been \u2018tainted\u2019 by the fact that the mayor met Mettler in January, well before the process even began.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mashaba denied that ActionSA was lobbying against Mettler and for Brink, telling amaBhungane: \u201cIt is actually sad and unfortunate for the DA to accuse ActionSA of such allegations. Our panellist on this appointment of the city manager, Mr Ngobeni, requested any assistance from the DA representatives of any wrong doing by Floyd Brink. This emerged when we wanted to know why the DA arranged a meeting for Mayor Mpho Phalatse to meet one of the candidates ahead of the interviews.<\/p>\n
\u201cActionSA does not have a preferred candidate and we are not intent on any particular candidate. We are, however, intent on a process that is beyond reproach given the role the [city manager] will need to play in leading and cleaning up a city administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forensic report<\/strong><\/p>\nThe forensic report commissioned by GFIS might deliver the critical blow to Brink\u2019s candidacy.<\/p>\n
ENS was appointed in December last year to investigate allegations of non-compliance by the city\u2019s Department of Public Safety in a transaction involving the Metropolitan Trading Company (MTC).<\/p>\n
The MTC is a municipal entity providing ICT services to the city, communities and the private sector.<\/p>\n
The report looked into two separate transactions between the department and MTC \u2013 one for the \u201csupply, programming, maintenance and support of digital portable radio communication devices\u201d from MTC, and another for \u201csupport and maintenance of CCTV and access control and alarm systems\u201d.<\/p>\n
The report found that Brink\u00a0appeared to have acted in a manner constituting gross misconduct in relation to the CCTV transaction, for an amount of over R300 million.<\/p>\n
The head of the Department of Public Safety approved the transaction with the MTC, despite only being allowed to sign off on transactions of up to R20 million.<\/p>\n
ENS found that this breach was reported to Brink, who took no remedial action. Instead, he ratified the transaction, only to later withdraw ratification in light of the investigation. This, according to the report, appears to have constituted gross misconduct, and the report recommended that the matter be reported to council for further investigation.<\/p>\n
ENS found that there was a similar breach regarding another set of transactions with MTC for handheld devices. The acting executive director of the department signed off on the transaction despite the amount being above the R20 million threshold. ENS found that this was brought to Brink\u2019s attention, but that he \u201cdid not take any corrective action\u201d.<\/p>\n
Brink, according to the report, was made aware by an official of steps to be taken to report the transactions, but \u201cno evidence exists that Mr Brink sought to implement this advice\u201d.<\/p>\n
Brink had taken leave at the time of the transactions, and an official acting in his place signed off on them ostensibly on Brink\u2019s behalf, but when Brink became aware that this was done against the advice of supply chain management department, he failed to act.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the result, at that stage there was information brought to Mr Brink\u2019s attention that possible financial misconduct had been committed by officials of Public Safety and he did not take any action.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll this raises serious questions about Mr Brink\u2019s suitability for the position that he holds. As the accounting officer he is expected to steadfastly stand for and protect the best interests of the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report recommended that the city consider formal disciplinary proceedings against Brink.<\/p>\n
The report also suggests that Brink was uncooperative with the investigators, deliberately withholding documentation and failing to address questions.<\/p>\n
Brink did not respond to questions from amaBhungane but has hit out at the ENS report.<\/p>\n
A letter from his lawyers addressed to the mayor and the council speaker says that the investigation was an \u201cunlawful\u201d attempt to \u201cdisqualify certain candidates from being considered for appointment to the position of city manager\u201d.<\/p>\n
The letter states that on 9 January, \u201con the eve of the advertisement of the city manager position\u201d of 16 January, Brink was notified of the investigation. The letter maintains that the investigators did not have the authority to investigate managers of his level\u00a0\u2014\u00a0so-called section 56 managers\u00a0\u2014\u00a0without approval from the metro\u2019s council.<\/p>\n
Addressing these claims, ENS said in a letter to GFIS that the premise of Brink\u2019s claim, namely that the investigation was directed at himself, was wrong. \u201cENS Africa does not hold instructions to investigate any specific person. In particular, ENS Africa has not been specifically instructed to or appointed to investigate [Brink]. ENS Africa has always understood its mandate to be to consider the relevant two transactions and to investigate if the transaction complied with the law and the relevant approval policies\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt so happened that in the process of investigating [the transactions], we found prima facie evidence of wrongdoing by some employees who are section 56 employees. Where this has happened, we have recommended that the procedures set out in the Municipal Regulations be invoked. All this is covered in our report.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brink and Malema<\/strong><\/p>\nThis is not the first time Brink has found himself the target of an investigation. While at the Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport, Brink was arrested and charged as part of a sweeping corruption investigation after the department, along with other provincial departments, was placed under administration because of widespread maladministration.<\/p>\n
The same investigation ensnared Malema, his business partner Lesiba Gwangwa, and other associates linked the On Point Engineering scandal, which was the subject of a Public Protector\u2019s report. Malema was alleged to have improperly benefited from a tender worth over R50 million from the Department of Roads and Transport. The case against Malema was thrown out in 2015 after numerous delays, with one of his co-accused claiming ill health.<\/p>\n
Malema\u2019s cousin, Tshepo Malema, and Collins Foromo, his childhood friend, also faced charges stemming from the investigation, in connection with a R63-million pothole tender. The National Prosecuting Authority provisionally withdrew the case in 2013, citing a lack of evidence for a successful prosecution. At the time, the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) said they would be looking to reinstate the case.<\/p>\n
Brink was acquitted in 2013.<\/p>\n
After his appointment as COO of Johannesburg in 2018, rumours circulated that Brink was placed in the role to appease the EFF, which was in a de facto coalition with the DA under Mashaba.<\/p>\n
In response to the allegation, Mashaba said: \u201cIn the years I was the executive mayor of the city, not once did the EFF ever discuss tenders with me. If I am a broken record, then let it be. If you have proof of my involvement with the EFF and corruption, you are most welcome to provide it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coalition arrangements were at the heart of a 2019 internal DA review report, which zoomed in on the DA\u2019s partnerships with the EFF, saying \u201cWhile appreciating the complexity and difficulty of the decision at the time, our view is that forming governments with the EFF\u2019s support in Johannesburg and Tshwane was a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
The assessment was symptomatic of a broader realignment within the DA, which led to a falling out between the DA, on the one hand, and Mashaba and then party leader Mmusi Maimane on the other, both of whom resigned.<\/p>\n
Mashaba described the party\u2019s decision to re-evaluate the party\u2019s coalition arrangements as \u201ctantamount to declaring itself to be unsuitable for the future\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the race for the position of Joburg\u2019s city manager heats up, fractures are showing in the DA-led coalition that governs the metro. The DA accuse their partners in ActionSA of siding with the EFF in attempting to shoehorn Floyd Brink into the role. Brink was once alleged to be close to the EFF and is now implicated in a damning forensic report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":20868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[896,897,149,898,384,861,899,123,900,901,902,125,903,904,905,488,906,907],"class_list":["post-15747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-acdp","tag-actionsa","tag-anc","tag-anc-youth-league","tag-coj","tag-da","tag-department-of-public-safety","tag-eff","tag-floyd-brink","tag-group-forensics-and-investigation-services-gfis","tag-johann-mettler","tag-julius-malema","tag-mayor-athol-trollip","tag-mongameli-bobani","tag-nelson-mandela-bay","tag-pravin-gordhan","tag-tshepo-malema","tag-udm"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29916,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15747\/revisions\/29916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}