Tshwane: Court rules suspended City Manager Mettler must be reinstated
The High Court in Pretoria has ruled in favour of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) application to set aside the Tshwane Council’s decision to suspend City Manager Johann Mettler.
Last month, the City Council voted to suspend Mettler, who is accused of financial mismanagement and of dismissing 44 striking municipal workers.
However, DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Celliers Brink accused Speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana of manipulating the outcome of a special council meeting held on 9 July.
According to Brink, the Speaker allegedly improperly altered the voting results to secure Mettler's suspension.
Reacting to the court order,Brink said: “According to Brink, the Speaker allegedly improperly altered the voting results to secure Mettler's suspension.”
He said the case was about preventing the capture of Tshwane’s administration and defending institutions that belong to residents.
“If we can protect the people of Tshwane from the opposition benches, imagine what we can achieve with an outright mandate to govern.
The 2026 local government election will give residents a clear choice: a coalition that treats public institutions as political tools, or a DA government committed to clean governance, accountability and the rule of law,” Brink added.
Meanwhile, Action SA reiterated that the Court’s findings were against the speaker and not their deployee Mayor Nasiphi Moya, who was installed through a coalition agreement comprised of the African National Congress, Action SA, Economic Freedom Fighters and other smaller parties.
The party reiterated that it had voted against Mettler’s suspension.
ActionSA welcomes the High Court judgment interdicting the suspension of Tshwane Municipal Manager, Mr Johann Mettler.
— Michael Beaumont (@ME_Beaumont) July 31, 2026
The parties that created this crisis should not claim this outcome as anything more than the correction of a problem of their own making. pic.twitter.com/8HSUPDATeL
