Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya has faced criticism from the DA after delivering her maiden State of the Capital Address on Thursday, with the party labelling it as unoriginal and lacking new initiatives.
Former mayor and DA caucus leader Cilliers Brink expressed disappointment with Moya's address, saying she failed to present a distinct vision for the city's future.
He said: “What we said in the beginning was that this is an opportunity for the mayor to outline her vision, her agenda distinct from the things that were done by the DA-led coalition where she was the deputy mayor. Unfortunately, she failed to do so today.”
Brink said Moya’s address contained nothing new and was littered with a lot of disappointments.
During her speech, Moya said: “Tshwane’s financial outlook is beginning to show signs of improvement, thanks to decisive action and the growing support of our residents. We are proud to report that our cash reserves are projected to reach R2.86 billion in the 2025/26 financial year.”
She added that the development marked an important step toward financial stability, with the city's liquidity coverage improving from 23 days to 43 days over the next two years.
“Our debtors’ book has also seen a meaningful reduction. In just one month, it dropped from R29.6 billion to R25.58 billion, a 13.56% decrease,” she said.
In reaction, Brink said: “The improved financial situation of the city; the fact that residents pay their bills more frequently is a function of work that was done under our leadership. Tshwane Ya Tima improved revenue collection. But the question is what gets to be done with that money.”
He reiterated the accusations that Moya diverted the budget for water and electricity infrastructure to water tankering businesses and security companies.
“One of those companies is linked to the ANC Deputy Mayor Eugene ‘Bonzo’ Modise. The results of this are prolonged power outages, the weakening of the electricity and water infrastructure of the city. There was little acknowledgement of this fact and the economic impact of this,” he said.
The company in question, Triotic Protection Services, was awarded the security tender in the 2016/2017 financial year before Modise became a councillor in 2023, and subsequently elected a deputy mayor last year in October.
The company is now run by Modise’s mother, Nelly Modise, and its human resource manager-turned-director is Neo Mafodi, who“is allegedly the mother of Modise's child.
Moya in February announced that the city has instituted forensic investigations into the company and Modise previously said he was fully complying with the investigation processes.
The DA recently voiced concern that the metro is poised to increase its income from property rates significantly in the 2025/26 financial year as proposed in the draft budget.
Brink said: “In the draft budget of the mayor, she proposes to introduce the new tax despite the fact that as Tshwane we already collect a lot more money from property rates from July 1. South Africans are under pressure, thanks to the mayor and her parties. We will be paying more starting in July. There was nothing new and a lot of disappointments.”
This week, ActionSA in Tshwane rejected the “baseless” claims from Brink, “who falsely attempts to shift the blame for the recent power outages onto budget cuts in the City of Tshwane”.
“The DA's distortions are not only inaccurate but also fail to acknowledge the proactive measures being implemented to ensure the reliability of our energy and electricity services,” said party caucus spokesperson Tshepiso Modiba.