Pretoria - Political parties in the Tshwane council yesterday threw their weight behind new city manager Johann Mettler and encouraged him to steer the city out of its financial troubles.
The councillors from various parties, speaking during the ordinary sitting of council, urged him to stand firm and not be influenced by politicians.
Mettler received some words of encouragement from all political parties, including the EFF, which initially opposed his appointment.
Councillors told Mettler that his reputation as “Mr Fix-It” from his time as city manager at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality would need to be seen and heard because Tshwane was in trouble and in need of a good captain in the administration side of things.
Mettler was told to approach head-on the trouble the city was facing in paying Eskom its monthly bills for electricity, ensuring that the metro repaired potholes and dealt effectively with payroll troubles that resulted in the late payment of salaries to some staff members.
EFF regional leader Obakeng Ramabodu said they had opposed Mettler’s appointed due to a slew of allegations of corruption in his previous post, but because they respected democracy, they appreciated his appointment because the majority of council saw them as concocted false allegations to dent his reputation.
He said Mettler would have their support and needed to hit the ground running and ensure that scores of township roads with potholes were also given attention.
However, he advised Mettler to not be influenced by mayor Randall Williams, who is accused of having a tendency to want to influence administration and procurement processes. He referred to an instance when Williams was accused of attempting to influence the administration to accept a multibillion-rand bid to upgrade the city’s two power stations.
The ANC’s Aaron Maluleke expressed words of encouragement and said the party would support the city manager if he acted with integrity and sought to serve the people of Tshwane, ensuring that they received services and the city was brought back to its feet.
Pretoria News