The DA has threatened court action over the reappointment of Floyd Brink as Johannesburg city manager, and the “irregular” use of R2.6m of the cash-strapped city’s funds to host a party for 500 workers.
The DA said a huge chunk of the money (R1.4m) would be spent on watches and branded puffer jackets, over R76,000 on venue hire and nearly R200,000 on management fees.
The DA described Brink’s reappointment as a “blatant disregard” for both legal and ethical governance and places an unjust financial burden on the metro’s 6-million residents.
That is after the Johannesburg council on Wednesday re-tabled the report on Brink’s appointment and ratified areas the Johannesburg high court ruled rendered the appointment unlawful, invalid and unconstitutional.
Acting judge Steven Budlender, in his initial judgment on November 7, ordered Brink’s appointment be reversed as processes leading up to his appointment in February were unlawful.
This prompted the Johannesburg council to lodge an application for leave to appeal against the ruling. However, Budlender on Monday dismissed the application with costs saying it bore no prospects of success.
The ruling was viewed as a setback for the ANC-EFF coalition running the council, which has a budget of R80.9bn for the 2023/24 financial year. It was also seen as strengthening 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 Johannesburg’s dire situation.
Unperturbed, the metro said it would petition the Supreme Court of Appeal, as a higher court might come to a different conclusion on Brink’s matter. On Wednesday, 105 councillors voted in favour of Brink’s reappointment, 64 against, and 47 abstained.
“It is the considered view of the city that [this] vote renders the intention to petition the Supreme Court of Appeal on the same matter, moot,” the metro said.
Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda said: “On behalf of the city we once more congratulate Mr Brink of his appointment and look forward to continued administrative stability and uninterrupted delivery of services.”
DA Johannesburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku said the decision to reappoint Brink was marred by “legal and ethical breaches [and] places an unjust financial burden on the citizens, who will inevitably face the repercussions of overturning this unlawful decision”.
“The situation in Johannesburg calls for immediate and decisive action.
Kayser-Echeozonjoku said in response to this “flagrant disregard for legal and ethical governance”, the DA is preparing to take the matter to court.
Meanwhile, DA Johannesburg’s shadow MMC for group corporate and shared services (GCSS), Nicole Rahn, has called on GCSS MMC Loyiso Masuku, an ANC councillor, and Brink to resign for their role in the “irregular diversion of funds to pay for a R2.6m party for 500 employees”.
“It was reported in the press that money was diverted from hard-won loco allowances to a slush fund that would allow Masuku and Brink to loot the city coffers. The loco allowances were a hard-won victory by the DA for the unions and the workers, especially for the front-line workers that had not had an increase for over a decade. These are workers who are most vulnerable to the huge cost of living increases our country has experienced and require the allowances to do their jobs,” Rahn said.
“It is disgusting that in the face of increased power and water outages, Masuku had her cronies in the department push through an irregular request to burn through over R2.6m, of which over R1.4m will be spent on watches and branded puffer jackets. Over R76,000 went to venue hire, while R170,000 went to ‘management fees’, which is obfuscated as the contract goes through the Metropolitan Trading Company — which does not disclose the name of the service providers. We are told the reason for this nondisclosure is because the service providers are linked to Masuku herself,” said Rahn.
The metro has its own venues for hire and can do internal catering, “and is under strict instruction from National Treasury to eliminate all expenditure on parties and gifts”.
When contacted for comment, Masuku’s spokesperson Abongile Dumako said they would respond later on Thursday.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.