The City of Johannesburg said it will petition the Supreme Court of Appeal after the dismissal of its application for leave to appeal against a high court ruling that declared the appointment of Floyd Brink as Joburg’s city manager invalid and unconstitutional.
SA’s richest and largest metro was of the strong view that “a higher court may come to a different and independent conclusion on the said matter”.
The ruling by high court acting judge Steven Budlender on Monday was a “grave error” and “inconsistent with the letter and spirit of legal argument” presented in court.
Budlender, in his initial judgment on November 7, ordered that Brink’s appointment be reversed as processes leading up to his appointment in February were unlawful.
The ruling is a setback for the ANC-EFF coalition running the council, which has a budget of R80.9bn for the 2023/24 financial year. The ruling could also help strengthen calls by the DA for the municipality to be dissolved as it had been dogged by a leadership crisis since the outcome of the municipal elections in 2021 did not produce a clear winner.
The DA has said the “revolving door” of the city’s leadership would not change Joburg’s dire situation.
This prompted the Joburg council to lodge an application for leave to appeal against the ruling. However, Budlender dismissed the application with costs, saying it bore no prospects of success.
The metro said it had been concerned that Budlender “enjoys a close relationship with the DA, having acted for the party on numerous occasions including on matters relating to the City of Johannesburg”.
“However, it has also been our duty to test the independence and impartiality of our courts even under such conditions of suspected bias.”
Joburg executive mayor Kabelo Gwamanda said: “Our resolve is in the interests of defending the stability of the city’s administrative structures and not a defence of any single individual. We are committed to ensuring that the city functions optimally and delivers on its mandate to deliver services to the 6-million residents of Johannesburg.”
DA Johannesburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku said: “It is clear for everyone but the ‘doomsday coalition’ in the Johannesburg executive that Floyd Brink’s appointment, as pointed out in the initial judgment on November 7, is unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid.”
Kayser-Echeozonjoku said while the city’s executive has wasted hundreds of thousands of rand in this “cumbersome legal process, the city continues to slide down the hill”.
“We pointed out earlier this month that Floyd Brink’s forced expulsion was yet another reason for the dissolution of the Johannesburg council. Our stance in this matter is, once more, vindicated.
“When our motion to dissolve the city’s council is debated, every party will have to decide what they are comfortable with. Their conscience should dictate whether they are willing to allow this vapid syndicate to continue their mismanagement of the City of Gold.”
Last week, Gwamanda said the planned motion by the DA to dissolve council was an idea without a plan.
“There would not be anything to defeat because it will fade away on its own. It is them trying to undermine the capacity of the current government of the day. And it is them blatantly disrespecting the voters who went out in numbers to make sure that they elect who they want to be represented by in council and executive positions,” he said.
“A single political party has been voted out of council and their only means to retaliate is to call for the dissolution of the entire council at the expense of everyone who participated in the processes that led to where we are.”
The executive mayor said the council would ensure “we defeat anything that they [DA councillors] bring to us in this council”.
The DA caucus (71 councillors) snubbed the election of new council speaker Margaret Arnolds during a special council sitting on Monday last week, with Kayser-Echeozonjoku saying it was a waste of money.
Arnolds’ election should have waited for the ordinary council sitting scheduled for November 29-30, she said, adding that the extraordinary meeting which elected Arnolds could have cost up to R600,000.
Update: November 28 2023
This article has been updated with new information
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