The DA has threatened to take the city to court unless Johannesburg’s acting chief operations officer (COO), Helen Botes, and acting city manager, Tshepo Makola, leave their interim positions.
The DA lawyers’ letter, which Sunday World has seen, details the threat and explains why the two officials should not have been in their positions.
The DA has threatened to file a high court application to have Makola and Botes removed if Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero and city council speaker Nobuhle Mthembu fail to ensure their departure by next Tuesday.
Historically, the DA has nearly always won these kinds of court cases at the national, provincial, and local government levels.
“In this regard, we emphasise that the executive mayor and the speaker have the duty to avoid and rectify the above unlawfulness, which has been firmly established,” says Schapiro & Smith Inc., the law firm representing the blue party.
“They each bear distinct but complementary responsibilities to uphold the law.
“We are also instructed to request them to confirm what steps they will take to prevent Mr Makola and Ms Botes from continuing to unconstitutionally and unlawfully act as the acting city manager and acting chief operating officer by 12pm on Tuesday, April 29.”
City advised to avoid costly court battle
The letter of demand reads further: “For the avoidance of doubt, should you fail to fully and timeously comply with the above demands, our client has instructed us to initiate urgent proceedings in the high court.
“Our client trusts that you will treat this correspondence with the urgency and seriousness it deserves.
“We urge you to seize this opportunity to avert another costly and embarrassing court battle for the city by promptly restoring compliance with the constitution and the law.”
The DA is adamant that the two be removed from their positions because the council never gave approval for their appointments.
The DA believes that Botes’s predicament is worse since the board of the Johannesburg Property Company illegally extended her contract as CEO in order to give her a foothold as the city’s acting COO.
“Over the most recent long weekend, [the DA] was informed by a whistleblower that Mr Makola’s appointment was secretly terminated on 27 March 2025 and Ms Botes’s appointment was secretly terminated on 19 April 2025.
“Despite the termination of their already defective appointments, both Mr Makola and Ms Botes have continued to act and make decisions as the acting city manager and acting chief operating officer, respectively, and continue to do so.”
Makola and Botes lack legal authority
The DA maintains that it is unacceptable for Makola and Botes to continue holding their positions because they lack the legal authority to do so and because any decisions they make could be overturned by a competent court.
Reads the letter: “The council — the body in which the constitution vests local governmental executive and legislative authority — has not sanctioned the continued occupation of these offices by Mr Makola and Ms Botes.
“This amounts to an impermissible usurpation of the council’s exclusive powers and gravely undermines the rule of law and the constitution itself.
“Any decisions, contracts, expenditures, or directives approved by Mr Makola as acting city manager or by Ms Botes as acting COO are open to challenge and may be rendered invalid.
“The longer Mr Makola and Ms Botes continue to act without authority, the greater the volume of potentially unlawful decisions that accumulates.”
Said City of Joburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane: “The city has received the letter and will formally respond. The DA is well aware of city established processes to raise complaints against any alleged administrative irregularities
“Notwithstanding the above, a report seeking and recommending the approval of acting appointments of executives in the city (including that of Ms Helen Botes) is en route to the next municipal council meeting for approval, ratification and concurrence,” said Modingoane.
