City of Tshwane mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya photo by Dimakatso Modipa
Cllr Nasiphi Moya
Executive Mayor of Tshwane
This is the statement that was made by Tshwane Executive Mayor, Dr Nasiphi Moya, at a press conference held at Tshwane House on 2 April.
Dr Moya was joined by members of the Mayoral Committee to provide an update on strategic service delivery milestones that have been achieved since the 100 days feedback.
The Multi-Party Coalition Government continues to build on the progress we began when we took office in October 2024.
In doing so, this Government has achieved key milestones guided by our Coalition’s six core priorities, which focus on financial stability, economic development, and improved, equitable service delivery.
Fully-Funded Budget
Let me start by taking you through what we mean by a fully-funded budget.
On Thursday, 24 March 2025, the Multi-Party Coalition Government tabled a credible, fully-funded Draft Budget to Council for public consultation.
This marks the first fullyfunded budget since May 2021—a milestone that should not be taken lightly.
A fully-funded budget is essential to securing the City’s financial sustainability and ensuring that service delivery remains consistent and reliable.
This budget is funded as follows:
Grant Funding
Total grant allocations for 2025/26 amount to R7.4 billion, comprising:
• R5.5 billion for operational grants.
• R2 billion for capital infrastructure.
• R152 million through the new Urban Development Financing Grant.
Funding Sources for Capital Budget
• R2 billion in Capital Grants.
• R430.5 million in Internally Generated Revenue and Donations.
It is important to note that this budget has been fully funded without relying on
borrowing—avoiding any additional debt that would worsen the City’s already
strained financial position.
While no borrowing is planned for the 2025/26 financial year, this may be reconsidered in future years, subject to the City’s financial recovery and improved debt capacity.
Tariffs
Alongside our efforts to table a fully funded budget, we have prioritised keeping rates and tariffs as fair and affordable as possible, ensuring that residents are not burdened with unreasonable increases.
The proposed adjustments are as follows:
• Property Rates: -4% decrease, introduced to cushion the impact of increased property values under the new General Valuation Roll.
• Electricity: +12%, kept below Eskom’s 12.74% bulk tariff increase.
• Water: +13%, also lower than Rand Water’s 15.3% increase.
• Sanitation: +6%
• Refuse Removal: +4.6%
• City Cleaning Levy: A new fixed charge of R185 per month for households
using private refuse collection, aimed at improving urban cleanliness and waste
management.
Historical Debt
As part of our government’s commitment to restoring Tshwane’s financial health,
addressing historical debt remains a key priority.
We are pleased to report that at the end of March 2025, the City has paid over R1 billion towards its Eskom debt.
This brings the total outstanding amount down to R5.66 billion, just three months after concluding a historic payment agreement with Eskom.
This progress reflects our determination to meet our obligations and secure energy stability of our residents.
In addition, we are proud to announce that the R4.7 billion VAT debt linked to the cancelled PEU Smart Meter contract has now been fully settled.
The PEU contract— entered into by previous administrations—was highly controversial and financially burdensome.
While the City successfully exited the contract, it was left with a significant tax liability.
We have now made a final payment of R128 million, clearing this debt in full.
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has formally acknowledged the settlement.
This marks a major milestone in closing a difficult chapter in the City’s financial history and demonstrates the Multi-Party Coalition Government’s resolve to clean up the past and build a sustainable future.
Debtor’s Book and Incentive Debt Relief Scheme Extension
As of 31 March 2025, the City’s total debt stands at R25.69 billion.
This reflects a 13.19% reduction compared to 28 February 2025.
This progress has been made possible by intensified revenue collection efforts,
including the Tshwane Ya Tima campaign and the Debt Relief Scheme approved by
Council.
These efforts are helping us recover what is due to the City, while also giving much-needed relief to residents.
We are pleased to report that:
• R2.42 billion has been written off from registered indigent accounts.
• R1.83 billion has been written off from over 31,500 inactive accounts.
To allow more residents and businesses to benefit, we are approaching Council
tomorrow to seek the extension of the Debt Relief Scheme by a further three months, until 31 May 2025 to allow for more residents to take up this offer.
So far, the City has received over 10,200 applications.
By doing so, the standard R29,000 tamper fee will be waived—allowing customers a
chance to regularise their supply and avoid further penalties.
Indigent Threshold
In addition to the measures above, the City remains committed to protecting our most vulnerable residents by providing a comprehensive social package that eases the burden of municipal costs for those who needs it most.
That is why, in the Draft Budget for 2025/26, we have proposed increasing the indigent property value threshold from R150,000 to R250,000 under the new General Valuation Roll.
This important change will enable the City to extend support to an estimated 183,397 households, ensuring that more residents can access vital relief and remain connected to basic services during difficult times.
Audit Performance
The Multiparty Government’s Mayoral Committee has taken decisive steps to convene monthly Executive Audit Tracking Committee meetings to oversee the City’s progress in correcting the adverse findings made by the Auditor-General (A-G) in the City’s 2023/24 financial year report.
In our efforts to achieve an unqualified audit, which remains a priority for this
administration, we appointed the A-G to conduct a pre-audit and in doing so have
furnished them with the files which were files submitted on 31 March 2025.
Issues of consequent management were flagged by A-G and we are pleased to report that we are making progress in this regard:
• 2 Officials have been arrested by SAPS for fraud.
• 8 Companies are in the process of being blacklisted for non-performance.
• An Electrician within the Energy & Electricity Department was dismissed.
Group Financial Services (GFS) will continue to monitor the progress through the Circular 113 Audit Action Plan meetings held on a weekly basis.
Spaza Shops.
This administration extends its sincere thanks to the over 5,000 business owners who submitted applications for registration between 15 November 2024 and 29 February 2025.
This represents the highest number of applications received by any metro or municipality in Gauteng, and we commend all those who compiled with this important process.
This registration drive followed a directive from President Cyril Ramaphosa, requiring all spaza shops and food-handling businesses to register with their local municipality by the end of February 2025.
Our preliminary analysis shows that the majority of applicants are South African
citizens, with over one-third of applications from women-owned businesses—a positive reflection of local entrepreneurship.
The review of these applications is now underway, in collaboration with the
Department of Home Affairs and the South African Revenue Service (SARS), to
ensure that all applicants are legally compliant and meet the necessary tax obligations.
To date 983 licences have been issued in line with the following criteria:
• Proof of registration with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission
(CIPC)
• Title deed, lease agreement, or proof of residence
• Tax clearance certificate from SARS
• Proof of banking details
• For food establishments, a copy of the business’s menu
This process forms part of our broader commitment to supporting local businesses, ensuring regulatory compliance, and enhancing the safety and quality of goods and services offered in Tshwane.
Law Enforcement for Quarter 3 (Jan 2025 – Mar 2025)
Reclaim the City was a programme commenced at the beginning of the administration and to date it has achieved:
• AARTO Notices Issued: 54 151
• Vehicles Searched: 51 842
• Vehicles Inspected: 67 642
• Persons Searched: 31 735
• By-law Fines Issued: 5123 (including noncompliant spaza shops)
• Vehicles Impounded: 3188
Establishment of AIDS Council
As part of our commitment to improving the well-being of Tshwane residents, we will be launching the Tshwane AIDS Council on Monday.
This is an important step in strengthening our response to HIV/AIDS, especially as recent data estimates that 15% of Tshwane’s residents are living with HIV, with the majority being young people. This is not just a health crisis—it is a social and developmental challenge that we, as a City, have a duty to address with urgency and compassion.
The Gauteng AIDS Council Secretariat will support the Executive and municipal
leadership in their roles on District and Metro AIDS Councils, helping to coordinate and implement effective HIV, TB, and STI programmes at the local level.
Through this initiative, we aim to improve health outcomes, raise awareness, and ensure that no one is left behind in our fight against the epidemic.
Energy Stability
In recent weeks certain parts of the City have been gripped by rolling power outages which have adversely affected business activity and domestic life for our residents.
Soshanguve and Queenswood have been the hardest hit in this regard.
In our commitment to being a responsive government, we are pleased to announce
that refurbishments to IA Substation in Soshanguve have been completed following
years of unreliable power supply that has adversely affected that area.
The reticulation of the electricity is underway, and we are confident that the area will have its electricity
fully restored in the next two weeks.
The original deadline for completion was set for the end of April.
In Queenswood the main driver of the prolonged power outage is 17 cable faults identified in the area, and so far, our teams have been able to resolve all of them.
Power has been restored in the entire area.
We apologise to residents for the inconvenience caused by the
prolonged power outage.
The Queenswood area is supplied from the
Blesbok Substation which was severely vandalised in 2024.
Refurbishments to the Blesbok Substation are planned for the 2025/26 financial year to improve overall stability of the electricity network.
Hammanskraal Water
Due to several delays in the rollout of the Klipdrift Project, Magalies Water has revised the completion date for Module Two to the end of April.
The Mayoral Executive will hold a public meeting in Hammanskraal with affected
residents to give them an update on the progress and to ensure that residents are kept fully informed about the delays in this major project.
We want to reassure the community that we remain firmly committed to delivering
clean, safe drinking water—once and for all.
We will continue to monitor module one of the project.
Relocations and Title Deeds
The City of Tshwane has over 500 informal settlements, many of which require the relocation of households to safer, serviced areas.
Since taking office, the following
relocations have been carried out:
• 1,488 households in Pienaarspoort, where families affected by flooding and
illegal sand mining were moved to safer, formalised stands.
• 370 households in Zithobeni.
Further to this, to date we have issued 1,860 title deeds, bringing security of tenure and dignity to families across Tshwane.
These efforts are part of our commitment to restoring dignity and providing safer living conditions for vulnerable communities.
Illegal Dumping
The City continues to prioritise a cleaner Tshwane. The number of illegal dumping clearances (1230) conducted per month is as follows:
• February – 261
• March – 186
A total of 447 cleaning operations.
This sustained effort demonstrates our commitment to maintaining clean, safe, and healthy neighbourhoods for all residents.
War on Backlogs:
Three-Month Target to Clear Backlogs
Over the next three months, this Multi-Party Coalition Government has set ambitious targets to improve the level of service delivery received by our residents.
Launching a war on backlogs while we continue to address other service delivery needs.
The following reported backlogs were recorded.
These figures form the baseline from which we aim to not only resolve existing issues but also respond swiftly
to new service requests:
• Water leaks: 2,788
• Pothole repairs: 2,805
• Streetlight repairs: 16,342
• Streetlight mast illumination 81
• High mast streetlight repairs: 521
This administration remains focused on turning the tide on service delivery backlogs and ensuring that residents experience visible and lasting improvements in their communities.