Fix this mess and put our city first
And so yet another Nelson Mandela Bay municipal manager bites the dust. The news earlier this week that the council has decided to pay a R2.6m golden handshake to suspended city boss Johann Mettler to get rid of him brings to an end a painful, protracted process. The sorry saga has dragged on for 20 months and it is sad that the metro is losing such a good administrator.
We can only hope that the politicians pull things together and put the city first now, something they have not been doing.
The municipality has not had a single city manager serve the entire duration of his or her contract since the metro was established in 2000.
The same thing was done to Lindiwe Msengana-Ndlela, another good administrator who got caught in the middle of the politicians wanting their hands in the feeding trough.
Two years after she was pushed out of her job, a court awarded the former Bay municipal manager — who had complained about political interference and intimidation — more than R3m in damages, interest and costs.
Msengana-Ndlela’s efforts to tackle poor financial management and increase accountability in the municipality had put her directly in the firing line.
Now, it’s Mettler’s turn to go.
Though you could say Mettler erred by giving incorrect or conflicting advice during the August 2018 meeting when Athol Trollip was removed as mayor and that he should probably have received a sanction, the alleged transgression was not severe enough to warrant the way he has been treated.
Under his leadership, things started to improve in the administration, and senior managers praised him because he had a firm hand and could stand up to politicians.
But that was ultimately what put the target on his back. The municipality is now a leaderless shell and is facing the loss of more than R800m in equitable share and grant funding from the National Treasury — money that is meant to subsidise the poorest of the poor.
In its latest letter to the municipality, the Treasury accuses the metro of repeatedly flouting regulations and cites instances of non-compliance, including its failure to appoint a mayor.
It also points to the political and administrative instability within the municipality.
This letter alone speaks to the administrative crisis in which the city finds itself. Sadly, the people who ultimately pay the price of this dysfunction are the long-suffering residents.