In the wake of a political battle in which Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink faced a motion of no confidence on September 26, residents outside Tshwane House on Madiba Street in the Pretoria CBD were filled with mixed emotions.
Record engaged with several of them awaiting the result of the council meeting to learn Brink’s fate.
Residents outside Tshwane House had different views with some wanting the mayor to bow out , while others were in support of Brink retaining his mayoral chain.
Zula Matlhabana from Cosas Gauteng said they were there in support of the ANC and the motion of no confidence against Brink.
“We are in support, because service delivery has deteriorated in Tshwane over the past years,” said Matlhabana.
“Only suburbs are prioritised with service delivery. The Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) that has been rendering service delivery to the township community has been neglected over some time.
“We are here to ensure that we show support and continue supporting the motion against Brink,” he said.
Matlhabana added that in the past 18 months, they have seen sewage spills all over their different communities, community parks no longer maintained and no security for facilities.
“Brink only assists in the suburbs concerning service delivery.”
Portia Matsetsebe from Orchards New Stands said Brink must step down because there is no service delivery where she is staying.
She said there was no water in her area most of the time.
Addressing his followers outside Tshwane House, Brink said: “The fight continues and let’s build the capital city that works for all its people”.
He also addressed the public about the service delivery that his administration is currently working on and what it has done for the capital city.
He thanked MMC for Finance, Jacqui Uys, for leading the financial recovery of the city.
“Thank you for making Tshwane the city with the best financial improvement of all the metros in the past year,” Brink said.
He also thanked MMC for Health, Rina Marx, for spearheading the attempt to get proper clinics and healthcare in communities. “Marx made sure we are resilient and that we look after our people.”
Brink said these were some of the attempts that had gone into building a capital city that works for all its people.
“When we fight, we won’t give up; when we say we are not going to abandon you, it is not for ourselves; it is for the people of Tshwane.”
He said this fight is for clean water in Hammanskraal, beneficiaries of social housing, transport, Wonderboom Junction, and finishing the BRT lane.
“We stand together with the people of Tshwane and anybody who cares about the future of the city. We must think, if we take these people out, who do we put in their place?” said Brink.
“If we stop what they are busy with, what is going to happen to the future of the city?
“A leader is not somebody who takes credit for themselves and blames the partners for anything that goes wrong,” he said.
He assured the DA, FF Plus, ACDP, and IFP the fight would continue to build the capital city that works for all its people.
Several possibilities for how Tshwane may proceed after the council meeting were discussed during a meeting of the Pretoria Chamber of Commerce.
Coalition partners, the Freedom Front (FF+) and the DA, presented the scenarios to business people after former Tshwane coalition partner, ActionSA departed the coalition on September 15.
Brink said one of these options involves the possibility of forming a government of local unity by concluding a co-operation agreement with the ANC whereby both parties retain their identities and do not oppose each other’s proposals in the council.
Another idea was to put the same structure locally to work in Tshwane as at the national level where the ANC, DA, and smaller parties such as COPE, GOOD and the IFP as well as the ACDP would maintain a majority government.
His other option is that the coalition parties take on the opposition role in council for the next 17 months until the 2026 municipal elections and so counter possible decisions by a city government coalition of the ANC, ActionSA and EFF.
He pointed to the friction between the ANC and EFF in the Johannesburg Council that may well “open the way for a DA-led coalition to possibly sit around the table with the ANC to facilitate a co-operation agreement”.
According to him, the ANC and ActionSA need the EFF in Tshwane to move ahead.
Brink believes unease after the national elections in May has a lot to do with the uncertainty that has now spilt over to the city council.
He said differences between leaders of ActionSA and the DA at a national level also influenced the breach of trust in the multiparty coalition.
According to Brink, a minority government cannot work in Tshwane because to make important decisions on matters such as the approval of budgets, one needs a majority of votes.
“It is important for us as a coalition to be able to work with someone so that the functionality of the city such as service delivery can continue, otherwise the city comes to a standstill,” said Brink.
He emphasised that the worst scenario for Tshwane would be when the ANC, ActionSA and EFF form a coalition.
“It must be avoided at all costs. We will take up the opposition benches to protect the progress that has been made up until now, but then there is much less executive power to make a policy,” Brink emphasised.
The leader of the FF+ in the city council, Grandi Theunissen pointed out speculation that the ANC is also concerned about working with ActionSA and EFF in a coalition in Tshwane.
For Theunissen, there is hope in the fact that should a coalition with the ANC, ActionSA and EFF take over the Tshwane city council, new legislation has forced the city council to make the seventh most important appointment in the administration and management of Tshwane permanent.
Just the city manager, Johann Mettler is on a five-year contract of which more or less two years have already elapsed. The danger, however, still exists that a new city government will try to relieve him from his post.
“Such threats have recently been made by members of the ANC and EFF during a council meeting to get rid of the city manager,” said Theunissen.
Fergus Ferguson of the Chamber of Commerce urged business people to continue to insist on a city council that works properly on good governance principles and to insist on good, sustainable service delivery.
“We must support those who share our values in terms of how to govern this city with integrity. With every corrupt bribe on any government level, every business loses,” Ferguson said.
Political analyst Theuns Eloff told the Chamber of Commerce that if the DA and ANC can negotiate on a national level about stability in the metros such as Tshwane, it may bear fruit.
“This can lead to a government of provincial unity to stop irresponsible decisions by parties such as the EFF being made,” Eloff explained.
He also believes that legislation in South Africa must be amended so that future coalitions on a local level include in their agreements a clause committing them to more stable and sustainable coalition partners.
Check our online platform on www.rekord.co.za for an update.
📺 “Thank you to the activists, community leaders, churches, and our partners – the Freedom Front Plus, ACDP, and IFP. Together, we’ve shown that true leadership in Tshwane is not about self-interest, but about serving the people with humility and dedication.” – Cilliers Brink pic.twitter.com/yXSunZzVqP
— DA Gauteng (@DAGauteng) September 26, 2024
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