Outgoing Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba says his job as the first citizen of SA’s biggest metro was the most rewarding.

Mashaba, who is due to step down as mayor next week after his resignation from the DA following Helen Zille's election as DA federal council chairperson, spoke glowingly about how he turned around the metro police department in the city.

He was speaking during the release of the city’s monthly crime stats on Wednesday.

“This has been the most rewarding job any human being can have, brutal as it was .... This was a brutal job, running a seven-way multiparty government,” said Mashaba.

He said he had to learn quickly when he was elected in 2016, with no experience or knowledge of how councils were run.

Mashaba said in the past three years, to get some sleep, he had to take sleeping tablets because the job was tough.