Leaders of two organisations in Tshwane are of the opinion that if embattled Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink vacates his position as the City’s first citizen, then it would be good riddance for the people of Tshwane.
In separate interviews with Tshwane Talks this past week, both leaders opined that Brink must go.
“I have adopted a giraffe approach; a visionary approach and I can see that the mood in the City of Tshwane Council Chambers is that the majority of the parties no longer want Brink as mayor of Tshwane,” said Laudium Atteridgeville Saulsville Civics Association (LASCA) leader Tshepo Mahlangu.
“The ground is very shaky for the DA, and township residents too no longer want Brink because he never wanted to serve them,” enthused Mahlangu.
“As LASCA we are particularly aggrieved by the Poorest of the Poor (POP) Debtors Book, which has not been released to the public for scrutiny,” he said.
“We are concerned that rich people who live in affluent areas have fraudulently been included by Brink and DA in the POP programme; a programme envisaged for those who are extremely poor,” lamented Mahlangu.
“For us the motion of no confidence against Brink, if it succeeds, would be good riddance,” emphasised Mahlangu.
He pointed out that the DA in Tshwane always talks about stabilising the Coalition government rather than stabilising the City of Tshwane.
“I have always maintained that Cilliers Brink was never the right guy to lead the Capital City because I’ve never believed that he would serve the interests of all residents of Tshwane,” said The Transformation Alliance leader Abel Tau.
“I’ve always known that he hasn’t been proven as an individual,” said Tau.
“Immediately after the 2021 municipal elections the DA had a choice between Randall Williams and Cilliers Brink for the position of mayor, and Williams was chosen, not because the DA wanted him, but because the DA knew that Brink won’t be appealing to all residents of Tshwane and also because he actualky doesn’t have the capacity to lead Tshwane” explained Tau.
“We are now vindicated that Councilors in the City of Tshwane chambers concur with us that Cilliers Brink has collapsed the city,” he said.
Tau insists that nothing tangible has been done regarding the water situation in Hammanskraal; that all that is there is mere rhetoric and nothing much.
“Townships are in a mess, they are worse off than they were in the past,” lamented Tau.
“The City of Tshwane has defaulted many times in paying Eskom, has failed to pay service providers and most disturbingly, there is a purge of senior officials in the city,” he lamented.
Tau said interference by the mayor in procurement matters, like in the case of the recently terminated waste removal contract, is a sign of bad governance.
Tau is adamant that under Brink the City hasn’t improved in any way whatsoever.
“If Brink goes it would definitely be good riddance, but the question arises as to who will take over from him because from where I am standing, I don’t think we will get a better candidate from the opposition parties,” he said.
Tau insists that politics are at play with regards the motion of no confidence in Brink, and that the motion is not being carried out for the sake of the residents of Tshwane.
Without getting into much detail, Tau pointed out that he won’t be surprised if Brink stays on as mayor after the brouhaha about the motion of no confidence and Tshwane will continue to be two different cities in one: the one in affluent Pretoria East and the other in the Far North of the City and townships of Tshwane.