Note to Editors: Please find an English soundbite by Cllr Kwena Moloto here
When the ANC, EFF, and ActionSA succeeded with their motion of no confidence against Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink, he was mobbed by various people outside the council chamber purporting to be municipal employees.
The videos taken of the incident shocked many residents and commentators, and tarnished the reputation of the City of Tshwane. Municipal employees are not meant to be drawn into political battles, let alone treat an elected office-bearer with open disdain.
It has since come to the DA’s attention that the majority of the mob were in fact political support staffers in the ANC caucus office. All the same, these employees, paid with taxpayers’ money, remain subject to the discipline of the municipality and the code of conduct for municipal officials.
In a letter to employees shortly after the incident, City Manager Johann Mettler rightly condemned the conduct of those who had jeered and insulted the former mayor as being against the professional culture which every municipality must seek to establish. The letter was mild in tone, and by no means controversial.
But both the ANC and the EFF have now taken aim against Mettler for his letter, and the fact that he dared to suggest that municipal employees must uphold professional standards above party political loyalty. This is the first sign of things to come under this Doomsday Pact which has set its eyes on governing Tshwane.
Leading the attack on the ANC side is their chief whip, Aaron Maluleka. Maluleka is the political office-bearer responsible for managing ANC caucus staff. Instead of taking responsibility for his own lack of leadership, he has penned a letter to Mettler accusing him of political favouritism. The letter is now circulating on employee groups, no doubt at Maluleka’s instance.
In the past Maluleka has also launched public attacks on the City for taking disciplinary steps against officials who have ANC connections, including a TMPD officer who was responsible for the municipal pound, as well as a senior manager who faces charges of dereliction of duty for the damage to the Pretoria Showgrounds.
As if coordinated, the EFF today issued a press statement in which they attacked Mettler for doing his job. The EFF caucus leader, Obakeng Ramabodu, more famous for making genocidal remarks in the municipal council against Afrikaners, has on various occasions launched inappropriate attacks on Mettler and his senior management team.
This shows the hand of the ANC and the EFF, the Doomsday Pact who seek to take control of Tshwane with the assistance of ActionSA. They are taking aim at independent, non-political senior managers, so that they can replace them with their own discredited cadres.
To build a capable municipal administration, you need professional, non-political senior managers. That is what Tshwane currently has, and they are steadily changing the city’s organisation culture. The DA will fight, in court if necessary, to defend the city administration from the attacks of the Doomsday Coalition.