WATCH: Tshwane elects new chief whip

The African National Congress’ (ANC) Samuel Mashola was elected as the new chief whip in the City of Tshwane on Thursday.

Mashola replaces the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Chirsto Ven den Heever who served as chief whip under the previous administration.

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This latest election has given a boost to the number of positions the ANC has in council.

The party already occupies the deputy mayor’s office and several positions on the mayoral committee.

In his acceptance speech, Mashola said he would work with the whips of other political parties to ensure that council work runs smoothly.

“The citizens of this beautiful City expect us to put aside our respective differences and work hard to ensure that their lives are improved.

“We want this municipality to work and deliver undisturbed services,” he said.

Watch the council proceedings below:

Brink’s remarks on new Chief Whip

Tshwane’s former mayor and leader of the opposition in council, Cilliers Brink also congratulated Mashola.

“In his remarks, the new chief whip referred to treating political parties with fairness and we welcome that remark.”  

However, Brink said he wants Mashola to deal with the issues of safety for councillors in the council, noting “the risks and the threats that we have seen to the lives of councillors in this chamber and outside of this chamber”.

“Men in most instances can fend for themselves but a threatening environment for female councillors is not something we should tolerate.”

New changes in Tshwane

The DA had accused the Speaker of Council Mncedi Ndzwanana of “unleashing” brute force when dealing with DA councillors last week.

This comes after security was called to remove some councillors from the chambers.

Both  Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and ANC caucuses said they are in full support of the election of the new chief whip. ActionSA also shared the same sentiments.

The new leadership of the City of Tshwane has also elected new leaders who will lead Section 79 committees.

The overhaul of leadership comes after the DA-led administration was removed from power, allowing a new coalition led by the ANC and ActionSA to come in.

The ANC’s new working relationship with ActionSA has led to political change in Tshwane and Johannesburg.

It is believed that Ekurhuleni is the next municipality to see leadership changes before the next local government elections.

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Political analyst Piet Croucamp said the complete change of power in Tshwane wasn’t surprising.

“The thing about leadership change in the main municipalities, metros, or on a provincial government level is the moment you have a change in political elites they tend to bring in people they consider to be trustworthy. Then the people in the existing positions are sidelined,” he said.

He said the merry-go-round of leadership can lead to service delivery taking a massive hit.

“We have seen it in Tshwane and Johannesburg. You cannot have frequent change if bureaucrats and political elites expect good service delivery.

In the last ten years in the City of Tshwane, there have been seven mayors with the ANC’s Kgosientso Ramokgopa holding office the longest from 2010 to 2016. The DA’s Solly Msimanga held office from 2016 to 2019, DA’s Stevens Mokgalapa from 2019 to 2020, DA’s Randal Williams from 2020 to 2023 and the late Congress of the Peoples councillor Murunwa Makwarela. Brink was in power from 2023 to 2024, while the current mayor is Dr Nasiphi Moya from Action SA.

As the first female mayor of Tshwane, Moya’s newly appointed mayoral committee is made up of members from Action SA, ANC, and the EFF.

Speaker of the Council Mncedi Ndzwanana from the African Transformation Movement (ATM) was appointed in 2023.