City manager placed on special leave
CITY of Joburg acting municipal manager Floyd Brink has been placed on special leave.
The city said it had placed him on special leave amid an ongoing investigation into allegations of misconduct related to R320million procurement deals.
“This was done in order to give an independent investigator the space to investigate allegations of misconduct as expressed by law firm ENS’s forensic report into non-compliance with procurement processes for portable hand-held communication devices and CCTV equipment for the Public Safety Department,” the city said in a statement.
Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse said Christian Elhers would act in the position until a new appointment was made.
In what sources say may appear to be a fracture in the DA-led multi-party government, the DA has accused coalition partners ActionSA of siding with the EFF in an attempt to shoehorn Brink into the position.
Brink’s suspension comes two weeks after he served the city’s corruption buster and head of the Group Forensic Investigative Services (GFIS), General Shadrack Sibiya, with a notice to revoke his investigative powers.
This was after Sibiya had finalised a forensic report into Brink’s conduct.
Phalatse has since ordered Sibiya be reinstated.
Brink is a controversial figure in the metro because of his alleged historical links to Julius Malema and the EFF.
In 2013, while a manager at the Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport, Brink was arrested as part of a sweeping corruption investigation that implicated a number of officials and business people.
He was tried and acquitted by a court of law in the same year.
Ehlers is considered to be a pair of safe and uncompromising hands, who has served the city under several political administrations, led by different political parties and politicians.
He has 34 years of local government experience, 17 of which are at executive management level, the city said in a statement.
“In the interest of service delivery and the residents, we are working to conclude the process of appointing a permanent and capable woman or man as city manager,” Phalatse said.