ActionSA has taken a decision to desist from speaking out about potential threats to remove City of Tshwane municipal manager Johann Mettler, who has faced recent criticism from the ANC over the legitimacy of his 2022 appointment.

Party national chairperson Michael Beaumont made this assertion during a media briefing in Pretoria on Tuesday, where the party launched the Tshwane mayor’s performance tracker that shows how the city is performing under the leadership of ActionSA Mayor Nasiphi Moya.

The controversy surrounding Mettler’s appointment has been ongoing, with the ANC announcing plans to request a special council meeting to debate the validity of his appointment. 

The party has raised concerns about alleged irregularities in the selection panel’s composition and questioned whether Mettler met the required minimum competency levels.

Mettler’s appointment has been surrounded by controversy following a letter from Gauteng MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Jacob Mamabolo, to Moya, inquiring about the integrity of the appointment process for a senior manager.

Asked to clarify ActionSA’s stance, Beaumont said the party will not engage further on the issue of threats to remove Mettler from his position.

“We ventilated our opinion on the issue. It is a matter of public record and particularly in light of our view that we should not invite unnecessary instability in the city that is starting to move forward for the first time in a long time. In our view this is a governance issue and we would like to draw a very big wall between governance and the party political issues,” he said.

He had previously stated that ActionSA does not support Mettler’s removal, citing that stability in senior city management is crucial to the formula that has begun to yield success.

On a lighter vein, Beaumont responded to speculation about a potential motion of no confidence against Moya, saying that it is a trend in South Africa for people to start plotting a mayor’s removal from day one.

He taunted those planning the motion, saying: “If you think the reaction to General (Nhlanhla) Mkhwanazi was big, I would like to consider carefully how the residents would respond to anyone who tries to remove this mayor. I wish that political party good luck with their idea.”

Meanwhile, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said threats to remove Mettler will be handled by Moya in a proper and professional manner at the appropriate time.

Beaumont explained that the Tshwane mayor’s performance tracker is updated in real-time with data from the city, allowing residents to monitor the city’s progress on the party’s website.

The ActionSA-initiated government tracker monitors key areas such as financial stability, infrastructure, economic revitalisation, safety and cleanliness, governance, and customer care.

Moya said the tracker is going to take the city far and reiterated that the coalition is stable.

“There is a lot that we have been doing as the coalition partners. In case and when we have disagreements, which we have had, we have to find ways to resolve those,” she said.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

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