The decision to call Ekurhuleni police chief Robert McBride back to work was explained to metro mayor Duma Nkosi on Wednesday, a municipal official said.

City manager Patrick Flusk had made the decision to call McBride back without the knowledge of the mayor.

All personnel of the emergency services, including those on leave as McBride was, had been called to work to curtail the violence in townships surrounding Johannesburg.

"It was a matter of saving lives," the official said.

McBride was not back as a chief of police, but as an ordinary member of the Ekurhuleni metro police.

Flusk on Tuesday emphasised that McBride's return was not permanent, but for the duration of the crisis in the townships — after which he would be placed back on special leave.

Nkosi placed McBride on special leave with full pay in July last year, pending the outcome of his trial on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, defeating the ends of justice and fraud — arising from his accident on the R511, near Pretoria, in December 2006.

Flusk would not be reprimanded for the decision, the official said.

"The mayor understands he was acting in good faith."

Sapa