The heat is on in the City of Tshwane council after the ANC announced it was going for the mayoral seat over what it described as a dilapidated city with dark and holy roads with intermittent to no water.
Yesterday, the ANC announced its intention to table another motion of no confidence against mayor Cilliers Brink in the next few days as it prepared for the council meeting on Thursday.
DA Tshwane caucus chair Jacqui Uys said the political party supporting this motion would aid the ANC in corruption and help undo the progress made in Tshwane.
Uys addressed the allegations by the ANC and said it should have read its reports before making false accusations.
“While Tshwane is not yet perfect, our financial rescue mission is progressing and we are addressing issues such as unclean public spaces and dark streets,” she said.
Uys said the mayor and the mayoral committee had been transparent all their challenges.
“Solving these problems is at the core of the Multi-Party Coalition’s agenda. The ANC lacks a legitimate case for a motion of no confidence in mayor Brink. They offer no compelling alternative,” she said.
Uys said the mess in Joburg and Ekurhuleni was a testament to what the ANC brought to the table.
“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.
ALSO READ: DA believes ANC’s bid to oust Brink motivated by private business interests
ANC regional chair and caucus leader Eugene Modise said the ANC would follow all legislative steps to make sure the mayor was removed from his position.
“The ANC is calling for the resignation of Brink due to his level of incompetence in executing his duties. Since June 2023, we have witnessed the rapid deterioration of governance and political oversight management and the financial status of the city.”
Modise said the city’s financial performance of March 2023 indicated R4.7 billion under expenditure and R10 billion irregular expenditure.
“The city has no allocation of its own for capital expenditure and therefore relies on the R2.5 billion grants from the National Government as its capital budget.”
Modise said the city was unable to deliver services such as water to residents of Bronkhorstspruit, Hammanskraal, Mamelodi and Winterveldt.
“Those with access to water experience intermittent and unreliable water supply. There are more than 150 projects in townships that have been stopped by the DA coalition in the African, coloured and Indian settlements,” he said.
Modise also criticised the city’s revenue collection project, Tshwane Ya Tima, and said it was inconsistent.
“The auditor-general gave the city a poor finding and we don’t expect any improvement in some of these projects such as critical road projects left unfinished and contractors abruptly terminated of which all the unfinished roads were in townships,” he said.
ALSO READ: ANC’s bid to oust Cilliers Brink: Residents weigh in
ANC regional secretary George Matjila said they were ready to take back Tshwane.
“Previously, there was a number of doubting Thomases when we put up a motion and was successful. We are hard at work to ensure once we put up a motion, it succeeds and we will install a mayor that will be able to help the people of Tshwane. It’s not only about politics,” he said.
“The ANC isn’t in marriage with the DA and the DA is not in alliance with the ANC. If our dumping sites are closed and if there are so many challenges that our people cannot participate in the local economy, obviously there is a big problem.”
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.