Suspended city boss Johann Mettler has turned to the Port Elizabeth Labour Court to challenge his suspension and the makeup of the disciplinary board that will handle his hearing, saying it was unlawful.
Mettler, who was suspended in September, wants the court to dismiss the allegations of misconduct against him, saying he was being robbed of a fair disciplinary process because mayor Mongameli Bobani was both the accuser and got to delegate who should probe his case.
In his court papers, in which he cites the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality as the only respondent, Mettler says the appointments of both the independent investigator and disciplinary board chair, Pumeza Bono, of Pumeza Bono Inc, were tainted.
He believes Bono would not chair his hearing fairly because her firm is under investigation by the municipality – a probe he initiated.
“Ms Bono is herself under investigation by the municipality, which investigation was initiated on my instructions as the city manager.
“It relates to the irregular appointment of StratAlign, a service provider to the municipality, through her office, as part of the notorious IPTS project,” Mettler said in his founding affidavit.
But Bono hit back, saying she did not believe there was any conflict of interest.
“I am aware of ongoing investigations on the IPTS project. I am also aware that Mr Mettler initiated an investigation against Mr Gawushe and I was questioned about my firm’s involvement with one of the contracts involving IPTS.
“I am not aware of an investigation against my firm directly,” she said.
“I deny that any conflict of interest arose from my appointment as a member of the disciplinary board.
“Neither I or any member of the board were appointed to specifically investigate Mr Mettler. We are appointed to the board to investigate any and all allegations of financial misconduct by any senior manager of the municipality.
“Should a conflict of interest arise in any matter, I will recuse myself from that specific matter as any other member of the board will,” Bono said.
She said there was “absolutely nothing wrong” with her firm’s appointment nor did it do anything wrong.
Mettler says the board was specifically reconfigured to deal with his case, questioning why a new board had to be appointed in December when the council in February appointed a board for three years.
The last board was comprised of Professor Hennie van As from Nelson Mandela University (NMU), Templeton Phogole from Treasury, advocate Bernard Hutton, Greg Billson – chair of the audit committee – and Hendrick Viviers, the municipality’s chief human resources officer.
The council last week approved the new board which comprises Bono, former Bay councillor Nohle Mohapi, Coega Development Corporation CFO Lionel Billings, Chris Adendorff of NMU, and Junaid Loonat.
Mettler was suspended on a number of allegations which were brought to the council by Bobani who was an ordinary councillor at the time.
Mettler, in a detailed report to the council, said the allegations were devoid of any detail or factual basis and that several investigations by council cleared him of any wrongdoing and the allegations should have been dismissed ages ago.
Bobani delegated the appointment of the investigator to his mayoral committee chaired by deputy mayor Thsonono Buyeye, who then delegated the duty to then acting city manager Nolwandle Gqiba.
She then appointed Mbewana Attorneys as the investigator to probe the allegations against Mettler.
Mbewana instructed senior counsel Nomawabo Msizi and Marius Grobler, who said they believed there was evidence to pursue a full investigation into Mettler’s conduct.
Ntsikelelo Mbewana is the same attorney who represented Bobani, Buyeye, speaker Buyelwa Mafaya and chief whip Bicks Ndoni in the case against the DA in October, to investigate the claims against Mettler.
Mbewana and advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi represented Bobani and others in the case over the August 27 council meeting which overthrew Athol Trollip as mayor and installed a new government.
In his founding affidavit, Metter said: “Given that councillor Bobani is the complainant and driving force behind the allegations of misconduct brought against me, even if council is able to delegate this power to another official or office bearer, (which is not conceded), councillor Bobani was the last person to whom such power ought to have been delegated, given his obvious conflict of interest.
“. . . The investigation and the report generated from that investigation is unlawful for want of compliance with the disciplinary regulations,” Mettler said.
He wants the court to order that the council dismiss the allegations of misconduct against him.
He also wants the appointment of Mbewana declared unlawful as well as the new board chaired by Bono.
Mettler has also asked the court to lift his suspension and that the costs of the court application be paid by the municipality.
Bobani said the municipality would oppose the application.
He said just like any other employee of the municipality, Mettler had a right to seek recourse in the court.
“As a city, we respect his views and we’ll respond on all allegations.
“But I can confidently say that we’ve followed all the prescripts of the law around Mr Mettler and the disciplinary board,” Bobani said.
He said it was not the first time an employee had taken the municipality to court and that the city was currently defending itself in a number of cases where municipal employees wanted their cases reviewed.
“This happened during Mr Mettler’s era and just as he was defending the municipality, we will do the same.
“Right now Mettler is our employee and we’re treating him like any other employee. Like those suspended officials, we’ll defend ourselves,” Bobani said.
Mbewana said he had not been served with any papers and could thus not respond to any rumours.
The case is expected to be before the court in January.