Mayor Nasiphi Moya, where art thou?

Where is our mayor? What have they done to her? Why is she so quiet? When can we expect a real reply?

It is about six months into the new administration of the City of Tshwane, led by ActionSA’s Nasiphi Moya and supported by the ANC and the EFF and, day by day, the mayor is getting quieter and so are the news groups.

Instead of face-to-face interviews and tag-along oversight visits, like in the past, communication from the City of Tshwane is now almost automated, bulk dumped every week.

The profile of the new mayor hasn’t lifted because it was seemingly thought it was good enough that she had been interviewed as a deputy mayor.

That was about the last we saw of Moya, whom we got to know as a strong, ambitious woman.

Last year, when the DA mayor, Cilliers Brink, was dethroned and thrown out of the Tshwane House, many residents were fearful and negative about what the new era in the capital would bring about.

Moya and her mayoral committee ensured that there was no need to panic because the takeover was needed to bring the city back to its former glory.

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At first sight, nothing much happened in the city and nothing new was happening, either. Each state of the city address or 100 days progress briefing sounded like a copy and paste of the previous ones, with the same problems, the same solutions and the same successes.

It’s all the same, but different. As a journalist, you are taught a few basics when reporting on stories, such as fact-checking, research and reporting.

Journalism today has grown and died at the same time, with newspapers on the decline and the rise of online news.

Never before have people had the opportunity to tell stories on so a big and wide a platform, online, with millions of clicks and shares, making information more accessible than ever before.

Also, we never thought the day would come when newspapers closed down and went online and paperless.

Never have we been so connected. In fact, if you told me 10 years ago I would have the cellphone number of the mayor, the previous mayor and a minister or two, I would have laughed at you.

While having a number was one thing, having a direct line of communication was another and some of these politicians only reply in the interest of themselves, or when it could benefit them.

But others have been consistent – yes I am referring to Brink and another DA contact – in communication with the media during the good, the bad and ugly times.

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Other politicians become too busy for interviews – yes I am referring to our mayor – and now ask for an official comment inquiry per e-mail, only to never reply to it.

About three months ago, when Moya announced her amended budget for the city, she was asked by the council why she was taking away funds from service delivery and why she was directing it towards water tankers and extra security guards.

The mayor refused to answer the DA in council and told them to put in an official request for a reply, so I did, too.

Every week, I phoned and followed up for the answer and instead got excuses and no comment, until this day.

I sent an official written enquiry, followed up three times and called a few times more.

Legend has it that if you call out a person or a past person’s name three times, they might answer your call or appear out of nowhere, like the tokoloshe.

Mayor Moya, mayor Moya, mayor Moya…

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