City Manager tenders his resignation 

15 January 2018

I hereby wish to inform the residents and staff of the City of Cape Town that Achmat Ebrahim has resigned as the City Manager.

Mr Ebrahim tendered his resignation with effect from Friday 12 January 2018. His last working day was 12 January 2018.

In his resignation letter, Mr Ebrahim made it clear that he is able to quite easily defend the allegations made against him in the Bowman Gilfillan, Inc report.

He further stated that, in terms of the ongoing investigations, he would furnish my office with copies of all the evidence files as they pertain to his involvement in these allegations which have already been handed to Bowman Gilfillan, Inc and which clearly show that the allegations against him are baseless.

After almost 40 years of dedicated and loyal service with an unblemished record, he stated in his letter that his obvious primary consideration at this stage of his life was that of his personal and his family’s wellbeing.

Mr Ebrahim expressed his thanks for the excellent leadership and political guidance stating it was a tremendous honour for him to serve with me as the Executive Mayor.

He also paid tribute to all of the many excellent staff in the City who contributed to make Cape Town the well-run and beautiful city that it is.

Mr Ebrahim has an untarnished and remarkable track record of nearly 40 years as a public servant, most recently having served as the City Manager for more than 12 years during the past three terms of office.

Mr Ebrahim is highly respected in the Muslim community. He has a good family name and his family is filled with respected professionals.

He started his career as a public servant in the City in 1977 as a lowest level clerk.

In addition to his formal qualifications and nearly four decades of experience in local government administration, he served more than 26 years at the senior level.

He was employed at the Executive Management level for more than 20 years with responsibilities for various portfolios since 1997.

Mr Ebrahim has an impeccable and proven track record and, for the period during which he had served as City Manager, the City earned numerous achievements and accolades including unqualified and clean audits.

He has been instrumental in leading the City administration to be the best in the country.

His resignation is indeed a great loss to the City of Cape Town and its residents.

I have come to know and respect Mr Ebrahim as a principled, hardworking public servant. His experience has been invaluable. It was an honour for me to work with him as a like-minded individual who always saw the need to act with urgency and in the best interests of the residents of our city.

I wish Mr Ebrahim well for the future and thank him for his commitment and outstanding service to the people of Cape Town.

I also thank his family for their constant support of Mr Ebrahim and the sacrifices they made over many years to ensure that he performed his duties with distinction.

Issued by Zara Nicholson, Spokesperson for the Executive Mayor, City of Cape Town, 15 January 2018