The Tshwane metro council has approved the appointment of former Nelson Mandela Bay metro city manager Johann Mettler as its new manager – despite opposition by the ANC and EFF.

Tshwane councillors were supposed to decide on Mettler’s appointment last Thursday but did not when the meeting ended chaotically.

The council finally approved mayor Randall Williams’s office’s recommended candidate for city manager in a virtual meeting on Monday.

Tshwane council speaker Murunwa Makwarela says the EFF’s request to restart the recruitment process was rejected.

The EFF, who describes Mettler’s appointment as ‘messy’, has threatened legal action.

EFF council whip Leofi Leshabane claims the ‘council was not provided with the record of security vetting of all the candidates’.

“The council has not been provided proof that the candidate has not been suspended for misconduct anywhere else,” says Leshabane.

“The mayor needs to clarify how he appoints Mettler when there is a tie in points between him and Odette Ramsingh [the second choice candidate].”

“The process was not fair, and the post should be re-advertised.”

The EFF’s recommendation failed after receiving only 58 votes in its favour and 107 against.

Williams, on the other hand, was happy with Mettler’s appointment.

“I want to assure our residents that the recruitment process for the city manager position was transparent and fair,” Williams says.

“All shortlisted candidates were subjected to a very rigorous and robust council-approved process, which includes competency assessments and security vetting.”

Williams says Mettler’s experience in managing municipalities made him the top candidate.

“He is an attorney by profession and a seasoned administrator with more than 20 years’ experience in local government.

“He worked as an administrator at the Msunduzi and Lekwa municipalities, and later took up the critical role of municipal manager at Drakenstein municipality.

“Tshwane is facing many challenges and requires an experienced administrator who will hit the ground running. A full-time city manager will restore administrative stability and good governance to take the metro forward,” Williams says.

The approval took place despite councillors saying they had technical problems.

ANC caucus chief whip Aaron Maluleke says not all councillors were able to vote.

“There were five ANC councillors who told me that they were not able to vote [due to technical problems].”