DA asks court to set aside Tshwane council meeting that suspended city manager

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has asked the High Court in Pretoria to set aside a special Tshwane council meeting that led to the suspension of city manager Johann Mettler, alleging that votes were manipulated during the session.

Urgent application filed over vote count

The DA filed an urgent application in the High Court in Pretoria yesterday to have the special council meeting set aside and to give effect to what it says were the actual votes cast by councillors.

Dispute over how councillors voted

DA’s Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said 95 councillors present voted against the suspension, while 92 voted in favour before council speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana deducted 13 votes.

Brink described the meeting as poorly managed, saying it was called at short notice and initially provided no agenda or reports. He said councillors only had the opportunity to sit down and discuss business by 3:30pm, and that at that time a number of DA and Freedom Front Plus councillors who had initially put in leave were ready to participate.

“The speaker didn’t deduct nine votes; he deducted 13. This entire council meeting was mismanaged and the votes were tampered with,” Brink said.

DA seeks new meeting or correction of vote

As an alternative remedy, the DA asked the court to order a fresh council meeting and to instruct the speaker not to “rig the votes,” according to Brink.

Brink also said the DA believes the move to suspend Mettler was motivated by his stance against irregular expenditure and certain tenders, and he pointed to a tender Mettler had referred back to a committee involving a 50-year lease on the Tshwane showgrounds.

Responses from other parties

ActionSA national chair Michael Beaumont rejected the DA’s account, saying the DA was short of their full complement of councillors and had submitted 13 leaves of absence on the day, declaring those councillors unavailable to attend.

“As much as Brink would like to make the matter about everything else, the reality is had his councillors not put in leave, Mettler would still be the city manager and Gareth Mnisi would not be back at work,” Beaumont said.

Republican Conference of Tshwane councillor Lex Middelberg said he had submitted allegations against Mnisi for investigation in council two weeks before the Madlanga commission, which he said were dismissed. Middelberg contrasted that outcome with the process against Mettler and said the coalition rejected his proposal to appoint an independent investigator in favour of an appointment they could control.

Council speaker declines comment

A spokesperson for council speaker Mzwandile Khathi said Mncedi Ndzwanana would not comment at this point because the matter was sub judice.