DA REVEALS WHY TSHWANE’S ANC COALITION IS GUNNING FOR CITY MANAGER METTLER: RIGGED TENDERS, ROOIWAL 5 AND REVENGE FOR MADLANGA REVELATIONS

Ald Cilliers Brink
DA Tshwane Mayoral Candidate

By Ald Cilliers Brink
DA Tshwane Mayoral Candidate

The Democratic Alliance (DA) can today reveal that the ANC-led coalition in Tshwane’s attempt to remove City Manager, Johann Mettler has nothing to do with good governance, but everything to do with his resolve in the face of tender rigging, fraud, and corruption.

In 2024 the DA-led coalition was brought down when Herman Mashaba and ActionSA made a deal with a faction of the ANC.

At the time we warned that the new ANC-led coalition would likely go after Mettler, as another ANC-coalition had done under similar circumstances in Nelson Mandela Bay in 2017.

Mettler is not perfect, but he does insist on governance checks and balances.

He is one of the few senior officials who provide a counterforce to those who benefit from systemic corruption in Tshwane.

This is why the parties in Tshwane’s coalition want him out of his position.

What the DA predicted in 2024 is now coming to pass.

Earlier this week the DA had sight of a complaint authored by the EFF member of the mayoral committee, Obakeng Ramobodu, in which he makes a series of unrelated allegations of misconduct against Mettler.

Our understanding is that Tshwane mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya will table a disciplinary report against Mettler in today’s municipal council based on Ramobodu’s allegations with recommendations that they be investigated.

Because the matter relates to personnel, it will be handled in committee (confidentially).

To cover her own role in enabling this political hit on Mettler, we suspect that Mayor Moya will try to hide behind the supposed confidentiality of the matter.

By making the complaint public, we take away the fig leaf behind which she no doubt wants to keep hiding.

We regard this as a matter of public interest.

What ultimately happens to Mettler will have major implications for the spending of taxpayers’ money, and the kind of city which a newly elected government will inherit after the 2026 local government election.

Pursuant to his complaint, Ramobodu asks for Mettler to be excluded from procurement related decisions in the City and to be placed on precautionary suspension.

This presents the real governance risk to Tshwane.

Some of Ramobodu’s allegations relate to actions taken not by Mettler but by officials who report to him.

In one instance, reference is made to a public protector complaint against the City that is yet to be finalised.

Mettler is even blamed for the dismissal of employees who participated in the 2023 unprotected strike, as if taking disciplinary action is the basis for retaliatory disciplinary action.

Recently, the ANC deputy mayor of Tshwane announced that the coalition wants these officials to be reinstated by the City, regardless of the disciplinary process against them.

Ramobodu also accuses Mettler of supressing a Special Investigation Unit (SIU) report into the irregular upgrade of the Rooiwal upgrade tender award.

The SIU investigation and the report on the matter is on the desk of the President, not Mettler.

To date, Ramobodu’s main preoccupation has been with facilitating the return to work of the so-called Rooiwal Five, officials implicated in awarding a rigged tender to Edwin Sodi and associates.

This has placed him at odds with Mettler, who has confirmed publicly that he refuses to drop the charges against these officials.

But the most spurious charge against Mettler relates to the appointment of Rivo Spies to the Tshwane Metro Police.

Spies, a deputy commissioner, who was appointed by Commissioner Yolanda Faro.

But Ramobodu presumably cannot be bothered by the details.

Spies’ testimony at the Madlanga Commission has implicated several officials in Tshwane and Ekurhuleni in tender rigging and mismanagement.

This provoked the ire of high-ranking politicians.

By moving against Mettler those moving against him will eventually get to Spies.

We don’t believe that these parties aim to make out a cogent case against Mettler.

They simply want him suspended while their allegations are being investigated, a process that can be dragged out until the 2026 local government election on 4 November 2026.

In the meantime, Mettler’s suspension would allow for an acting municipal manager to be appointed in his stead, presumably someone who will prove more pliant in the awarding of tenders flagged as irregular and ultimately blocked by Mettler.

We understand that one of these tenders relate to Tshwane Show Grounds.

Had this tender been awarded by Mettler, as recommended by Tshwane’s bid adjudication committee, a joint venture including a company called Smada would have benefitted from a fifty-year lease agreement on the Showgrounds.

The same Smada has been mentioned in testimony before the Madlanga Commission related to procurement irregularities in the South African Police Service (SAPS).

There have been suggestions of links between this company and the leader of the EFF, Julius Malema.

The DA will be reporting this matter to the South African Police Service and all other investigative bodies that might be able to determine whether improper pressure is being brought to bear on Mettler by Ramobodu and his political bosses.

Be that as it may, there is sufficient reason for the public to be sceptical of the conduct of councillors in Tshwane.

Depending on the decision taken by the municipal council today, the DA will be consulting our attorneys to ensure that governance in Tshwane is not compromised.

In the meantime, Mayor Moya can still make the right decision and take the public into her confidence about what is really going on at Tshwane House.