Will Moya break the cycle of short-term mayors in Tshwane?

There have been mixed reactions to the election of new City of Tshwane mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya this week, with many questioning how long she would last before being ousted.

Among the many who welcomed Moya’s appointment were EFF president Julius Malema and the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu).

Hammanskraal resident Marcus Moche said it was the same script with a different cast.

Mixed reaction to Moya

“She won’t bring any changes and will soon be voted out. As we speak, kids are sent home early from school around Hammanskraal because there’s no water in taps or tanks,” he said.

In the past decade, Tshwane has had seven mayors, including the ANC’s Kgosientsho Ramokgopa (2010-2016), the DA’s Solly Msimanga (2016-2019), the DA’s Stevens Mokgalapa (2019-2020), DA’s Randall Williams (2020-2023), Congress of the people’s Murunwa Makwarela (2023), the DA’s Cilliers Brink (2023-2024) and now the first female mayor from ActionSA, Dr Nasiphi Moya.

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Political analyst Dr Benjamin Rapanyane said all of the previous Tshwane mayors had promised a new dawn, committed to tackle the socioeconomic challenges faced by the people of Tshwane and to financial discipline, balanced with a sense of fairness and duty to residents.

“It started with Msimanga, then Mokgalapa, then Williams, then the late Dr Makwarela and then Brink. All were replaced two years later. Moya might not be a special case, especially since she is a junior politician who can easily be controlled. Coalition arrangements are unstable and do not work,” he said.

Political analyst Piet Croucamp said not enough was known about Moya to tell if she would be successful or not.

Not enough known about Moya

“I heard she is inexperienced but what I do know is that all of South Africa’s metros are difficult institutions to manage. They are all very complicated in that there are a lot of interests involved.

“Some of these interests are not necessarily above board and the budget of these metros, especially Tshwane, are a complete mess. The debt levels are incredible,” he said.

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“She will need party political support. I don’t know if she has that. But we have no evidence that she doesn’t have the skills,” he said.

Political analyst Daniel Silke said the issue, specifically for the ANC, was that Tshwane could not fail now.

“Given that the ANC has gone against the positive sentiments of the broader government of national unity in terms of the ANC and DA relationship and into an agreement with ActionSA, which was clearly looking to undermine and embarrass the DA.

ANC looking to ‘undermine and embarass’ DA

“Having done that and ousted another mayor, there is no further leeway for the ANC or ActionSA. Tshwane has to work. It has to be efficient and combat corruption.

“Moya has a benefit in that there shouldn’t be political obstacles in her way. In Brink’s case, there might have been many obstacles.”

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