Former mayor calls suspended Tshwane city manager ‘Mr Fix It’ as political battle continues

Johann Mettler, the suspended city manager of Tshwane, has been praised as a problem-solver by a former mayor who described him as “Mr Fix It”. The endorsement came as DA figures took a letter on corruption concerns to the Union Buildings.

Former mayor praises Mettler’s record

Retief Odendaal, the DA Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral candidate and former mayor, told reporters that he still considered Mettler one of the best in his field and that he continued to seek Mettler’s advice.

“Here in Nelson Mandela Bay, Mettler was known as ‘Mr Fix It’. I still regard him as one of the best in his field and I still ask him for advice. The same happened to him in Nelson Mandela Bay, where he was falsely accused and given a million-rand handshake to leave,”

DA delegation brings corruption concerns to national offices

Odendaal met DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink at the Union Buildings to deliver a letter about large-scale corruption in the metro to the Office of the President.

“I am here because President Cyril Ramaphosa launched a special investigation through the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) concerning a streetlight tender,”

Odendaal said, adding that the SIU gave their findings to the mayor and the current administration and recommended that they implement them within 90 days.

Allegations and fallout

Odendaal said the SIU matter concerned a R35 million contract, and noted that Nelson Mandela Bay had around R30 billion in irregular expenditure recorded in its financial statements. He also said the official who investigated within the forensic unit was now facing disciplinary action.

Suspension and wider reaction

The article described Mettler as the suspended Tshwane city manager. Odendaal said Tshwane had been lucky to have Mettler as city manager and repeated his support for Mettler’s record in municipal administration.

Details of the disciplinary and legal processes surrounding Mettler’s suspension were not included in the source material.

Further reporting on the situation and any ongoing court challenges was referenced in the broader media landscape but not specified in the source material used for this piece.