Tshwane in Turmoil: DA Warns Against Political Plot to Remove City Manager Johann Mettler

Amid rising political tensions in the capital, the DA has sounded the alarm over alleged attempts to unlawfully remove Tshwane city manager Johann Mettler from office, urging Mayor Nasiphi Moya to take a clear stand.

The battle over the city manager’s position has quickly become a proxy war between Tshwane’s leading political factions. At the centre of the storm is Johann Mettler, a seasoned technocrat with a deep résumé in local government and a target of fresh allegations by the ANC in Tshwane, who claim his appointment was irregular.

But the DA isn’t buying it.

DA Raises the Red Flag

Cilliers Brink, leader of the DA caucus in Tshwane, has written a formal letter to ActionSA mayor Nasiphi Moya. His message? The ANC’s allegations are setting the stage for an irrational and potentially unlawful push to oust Mettler — and could lead to costly legal battles that the city can ill afford.

“We want to caution you against such an allegation being used as a pretext for removing Mettler from his position irrationally and unlawfully,” Brink wrote.

He’s asked Moya to clarify her stance amid swirling claims that the ANC wants a special council meeting to debate the validity of Mettler’s appointment, a move that could shift control of the city’s administrative core.

Mayor Moya: Don’t Drag Me into the Drama

Moya didn’t take kindly to Brink’s letter making its way into the media. She’s accused the DA of politicising the matter, suggesting that their real goal might be to win public sympathy, not defend legal process.

“This raises concerns as to whether the matter was raised in good faith, or intended primarily for public and political consumption,” she wrote in response.

Instead of airing it all in public, Moya confirmed that consultations are underway with the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and said it would be premature to comment further.

Legal Headaches Loom

Political analyst Lex Middelberg, who also sits on the Tshwane council as part of the Republican Conference of Tshwane, added a note of realism to the drama. Firing Mettler now, he says, will almost certainly end up in court — with costs and delays that will burden the city’s already-stretched budget.

“Any early termination of his contract will lead to litigation and that litigation won’t be settled for another 18 months to two years,” Middelberg warned.

Even if there were a strong case, he argued, dragging the city into a protracted legal fight over a senior post as critical as city manager is a risky game.

Who is Johann Mettler?

Mettler isn’t just any bureaucrat, his track record reads like a masterclass in stabilising dysfunctional municipalities. He holds multiple legal degrees, including an LLM from Lund University in Sweden and an LLB and BProc from the University of the Western Cape.

He’s served in local government since 1995 and was previously appointed as an administrator to fix broken municipalities, a rare sign of confidence in a technocrat often trusted to clean up political messes.

The Bigger Picture: Governance or Power Play?

With his contract due to expire at the end of the council’s term, Mettler’s potential removal now begs the question: why rush? The DA suspects it’s a thinly veiled political power play, while the ANC insists the original appointment was flawed.

Caught in the middle is Moya, the ActionSA mayor whose coalition relationships are being put to the test.

The political showdown in Tshwane is a sharp reminder of how fragile metro governance has become in South Africa, where coalition tensions, service delivery frustrations, and leadership battles often collide, to the detriment of residents.

For now, Tshwane waits to see whether stability will win, or whether another legal mess is brewing at the top.

{Source: The Citizen}

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