Sipho Stuurman
Over the past year and a half, the City of Tshwane has often been in the news for the wrong reasons with unfavourable headlines, including the devastating 2021/22 financial year audit report as well as continuous financial and water supply challenges.
These are indeed real issues facing the metro and in many cases the criticisms are fair despite lacking historical context, such as the role played by exorbitant long-term contracts entered into by past administrations and the role played by the destructive tenure of the illegal provincial administrators who left a R4 billion deficit during their eight-month stint in 2020.
Without dwelling too much on the past and shifting blame, the reality is that the City of Tshwane has faced what seemed to be insurmountable challenges, but now under the leadership of Executive Mayor, Ald Cilliers Brink, there is a sense of hope, purpose and commitment to turn things around.
Mayor Brink is fixing the system and cleaning house. The City of Tshwane is no longer a sinking ship and this is evident to anyone who reads beyond past headlines.
It was therefore very puzzling, to say the least, to read a flimsy strung-together opinion piece by a poorly informed novice political commentator, a Mr Steve Fleitz, proclaiming an imagined decline of Brink’s era of governance and leadership in Tshwane. No, sir! Try elsewhere, Johannesburg maybe. There seems to be consensus about the competence – or lack thereof – of the mayor over there.
Now let us talk facts and reflect on Brink’s consequential one year and five months in office in the City of Tshwane. It must be said: It was a difficult start that would probably have made lesser men regret taking the mayoral seat. Soon after his election on March 28, 2023, there was a massive pylon collapse, plunging large parts of the city into darkness. This was followed by a tragic cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal and then there was the crippling three-month strike action.
However, despite these early onset challenges, the Brink administration stood firm, working together with coalition partners to push ahead with the main goal of building a City that works for all its people. Fast forward a year and a half later, the progress is demonstrable.
City finances
The City has successfully relaunched the #TshwaneYaTima revenue-collection drive targeting all City debtors. Furthermore, a project management office has been established to enhance the work of the City’s Revenue Management Division. This means accelerating the rollout of prepaid electricity meters, dispatching bills accurately telephonically and online, speedily resolving disputes, as well as implementing credit control and debt collection measures, such as issuing summons against debtors. This is a Brink administration turnaround strategy.
Audit report
During the 2022/23 financial year, the City improved its audit outcomes from that of an adverse opinion to a qualified audit outcome. The City managed to clear two of the three adverse audit findings identified by the Auditor-General and now work is underway to ensure that we clear the third finding relating to property, plant and equipment.
Alongside the audit improvement under Brink’s leadership, Moody’s Ratings changed the City’s financial outlook to stable, while Ratings Afrika found that the City of Tshwane achieved the best improvement in financial sustainability of all metros in 2023.
SALGA Municipal Audit Awards
Further confirming that the City is making progress in stabilising City finances and clean governance, the municipality recently received three top honours at the South African Local Government Association (SALGA).
The City took home awards for first runner-up for using municipal grants and service delivery at 84%, first runner-up for reducing unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure by 21% and most improved revenue collection and debt management, which was at 92%.
Hammanskraal water
In his maiden State of the Capital Address on May 18. 2023, the Executive Mayor took immediate accountability and described Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Plant, which is responsible for some of the water supply challenges in Hammanskraal, as a “stain on our conscience as a City”.
Since then, significant progress has been made in upgrading Rooiwal. The plant has been handed over to a project management team to finish Phase 1 of upgrades – this is progress.
The City is working with the Department of Water and Sanitation, the National Treasury and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, as the managing agent, to resolve the water challenges in Hammanskraal. The City has made an allocation of R450 million towards upgrading Rooiwal over a three-year period.
I could list many more highlights, but the point is that the City of Tshwane is clearly on an upwards trajectory. To restore institutional stability, senior management positions have been filled, including that of Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations Officer and Chief of Police. Officials who are implicated in wrongdoing, such as with the irregular Rooiwal tender, have been suspended, proving once more that the Brink era is about accountability and clean governance.
On the political front, the coalition in Tshwane is united. Just ask the ANC that attempted to bring a frivolous motion of no confidence against the mayor but withdrew when it realised it would fail. The Tshwane coalition is focused on real issues and serving communities, and therefore works well together and is able to vote as a bloc in Council and pass important reports to benefit Tshwane residents.
Stuurman is City of Tshwane's Divisional Head: Mayoral Public Affairs and Media Relations.
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