Africa-Press – South-Africa. City of Johannesburg Mayor Thapelo Amad has welcomed the appointment of Floyd Brink as the new city manager.
Brink is a former chief operations officer (COO) of the City.
Amad said Johannesburg was left without a city manager, COO and group chief financial officer for a considerable period.
“These are three critical positions in the life and work of the City that have been irresponsibly left vacant by the previous administration, jeopardising the City’s administrative capacity and service delivery,” said Amad.
In a statement issued on Saturday morning, Amad said Brink served as COO from August 2018 on a four-year contract and acted as city manager in February 2021.
“The appointment of Mr Brink signifies the beginning of an era of bringing certainty and stability to the City by filling critical management positions which had been left vacant for a considerable period,” Amad added.
Amad said:
He wished Brink well in his new position.
“[We are] confident that working with him, the government of local unity (GLU) will be able to make decisive advances towards the realisation of the world-class African city envisioned in our Growth and Development Strategy,” said Amad.
News24 previously reported that Brinks’ appointment came after a two-day extraordinary sitting of council on Wednesday when Speaker Colleen Makhubele tabled a report which she said contained evidence that the previous mayoral committee had obstructed Brink from being appointed earlier.
In a strongly worded statement on Thursday, Makhubele also claimed that, when leading the City, the DA-led coalition collapsed governance, financial management and service delivery by obstructing Brink’s appointment as city manager.
The media were not privy to this, and three other reports were held in-council on Wednesday.
Makhubele recommended to council that former mayor Mpho Phalatse, councillor Leah Knott and “officials” be investigated for what she believed were acts of impropriety and illegality.
Brink had been on special leave since April 2022 when he was accused of flouting procurement processes in the acquisition of portable communication devices and CCTV equipment for the public safety department. The deals were worth R320 million.
At the time, Phalatse said Brink’s suspension would allow an independent investigator time to investigate the allegations.
Brink was reportedly cleared in a forensic report.
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