The DA in the City of Johannesburg has been accused of conducting a witch-hunt against Floyd Brink, the municipal manager.
The Johannesburg City manager is the target of a witch hunt by the DA, according to Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda
This comes after the DA went back to court, wherein the party maintained that Brink’s appointment to the role was improper.
But Gwamanda has dismissed the DA’s move as nothing more than political sabotage and an obsession with Brink.
The DA has been adamant about Brink’s removal from office and has already lost a court bid to do so.
Gwamanda insisted that Brink was appointed following due process.
According to Gwamanda, the DA’s only motivation for causing instability in the city was that the coalition agreement between the ANC and EFF had forced it out of power.
The legal teams for the city and the DA sparred in court on Wednesday, with the latter blaming the speaker of council and the mayor as the source of the impasse.
Gwamanda shot back: “From the arguments of the DA, it is clear that the court is being used as a political battlefield to destabilise the city and undermine the efforts of the current administration to deliver reliable and efficient services to residents.
Political point-scoring
“Much-needed resources of the city are being wasted on unnecessary litigation whose objectives are political point-scoring at the expense of administrative stability and prudent management of city resources and services.
“As the city, we remain steadfast in defence of our processes and are confident that strong arguments against the case of contempt and urgency have been made on behalf of the city.
“Our immediate interest is for the city manager to continue leading his administrative team diligently and to assist us and residents in responding to the pressing challenges of ageing infrastructure, revenue collection, energy security, and reliable water supply.”
Gwamanda said it was clear that the DA will not rest until Brink’s head is on the chopping block.
The city’s political establishment, under his leadership, was prepared to stand up for Brink because they believed he was doing a great job of guiding the city in the right direction.
“We are aware that the DA has placed a target on the city manager’s head and has made him a project in their attempts to downplay the great service delivery strides being realised under the government of local Unity and administration arm led by Mr Brink,” said Gwamanda.
