ANC says Brink replaced black African officials

It was expected to be a disruptive day in the City of Tshwane council on Wednesday as the Tshwane African National Congress (ANC) caucus attempted to push through a motion of no confidence against Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor Cilliers Brink.

On Wednesday, chief whip of the official opposition, Aaron Maluleka filed a submission of an urgent motion of no confidence against Brink for what the ANC described as the deterioration of service delivery, financial mismanagement, failure to implement key projects lack of transparency and accountability, governance and oversight and neglect of marginalised communities.

“The ANC caucus has submitted an urgent motion of no confidence against councillor Brink in line with the rules and orders of council. We have explained our reasons for the urgency and expect a favourable response from the speaker of council,” he said.

ALSO READ: DA says everyone backing ANC’s motion to oust Brink will be aiding graft

‘Army of ex-colleagues’

Maluleka said they had been engaged in progressive minority party talks and were meeting parties that had shown interest in this motion from the DA-led coalition.

“The city manager has created an army of his ex-colleagues acting on behalf of Cilliers Brink to cleanse senior managers. The office of mayor Brink has replaced all black African support staff with white DA members,” he said.

Maluleka said various senior managers were being expelled and some removed for nefarious reasons, including the group head of economic development, executive head, divisional head and a Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) director.

Maluleka said the group head of roads and transport and group head of property department were also targeted.

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“The chief of police, Yolanda Faro, is used to purge any TMPD member suspected to be associated with the ANC and the governance support officer, Ashraf Adam, is assigned to remove cluster managers from the city,” he added.

Maluleka said the DA-led coalition owed Eskom R6 billion and serviced the debt at R20 million a month, while people of Ikageng in Mamelodi were in the fifth year without water, yet they are billed every month.

“Tshwane Ya Tima is a faux pas that targets already paying customers facing economic difficulties. Their collection rate remains at 40% and the debtor’s book stands at R21 billion,” he said.

‘Motivated by waste contract’

But Tshwane caucus chair Jacqui Uys said the ANC’s attack on Brink was motivated by a waste contract and lacked a legitimate case for a motion of no confidence in the mayor.

“The ANC has yet to attempt a motion of no confidence, playing the role of opposition while trying to redeem itself in the eyes of the electorate, who are aware that Tshwane’s institutional decay is largely due to ANC interference,” she said.

Uys said this interference had not been limited to the ANC provincial government’s unlawful administration of the city in 2020, during the Covid lockdown.

“Matjila’s involvement in destabilising Tshwane in 2016, following the ANC’s nomination of Thoko Didiza, resulted in chaos and destruction,” she said.

ALSO READ: DA believes ANC’s bid to oust Brink motivated by private business interests

Councillor of the Republican Conference of Tshwane Lex Middelburg said it would be interesting to see who ActionSA sided with because it would determine the outcome of the motion. Middelburg said the ANC had a good point but focused on matters that affected its voters.

“The DA spends more time and energy in the communities where they get their votes. There are two cities in Tshwane, the part of the city that has better service delivery than the other parts.

“That’s where the big divide comes in. The DA worked very hard in the community that supported them, to keep the votes.”

Middelburg said he believed the city was worse off than before, especially financially. The TMPD had not responded to inquiries at the time of going to print.