Newly-elected Deputy Mayor of the City of Tshwane Eugene Modise insists that he will juggle the positions of Finance MMC and Deputy Mayor easily.
“Finances are the heart-beat of the City and being Deputy and MMC at the same time will make it easy for me to deliver services to the residents of Tshwane,” said Modise shortly after being elected to an additional position of the City’s Deputy Mayor on top of the position of finances he is occupying at the moment.
He said first and foremost he was going to make sure that the City of Tshwane gets cleaned up as it is filthy at the moment, and thereafter he will concentrate his efforts on the issue of talking to residents who have connected electricity illegally.
According to Modise, these people have made illegal connections because they have been excluded from the electricity grid, but are willing to pay the municipality because at the moment they are paying somebody for the electricity instead of the municipality itself.
“I have discovered the negligence of the City of Tshwane regarding its assets, for example the Tshwane Market has all along been making R1 billion a month but now it is not doing so, the Tshwane Events Centre (formerly known as Pretoria Showgrounds) used to make a lot of money for the City and the City is losing revenue at the Wonderboom Airport as there are people staying there as tenants but are not paying anything to the City,” said Modise.
“As the ANC we had as far back as 2016 made a feasibility plan to make sure that the Rooiwaal and the Pretoria West power stations are put to use and generate money for the City of Tshwane,” he said.
“Tshwane is the second biggest capital City in the world after Washington DC in the USA, and former mayor Kgosientsho Ramokgopa (now Minister of Electricity) is going to help us settle our debt with Eskom and also help us in making sure that the Rooiwaal and Pretoria West power stations are up and running,” said Modise.
“Last week and this week we have made sure that we get money to pay municipal workers their bonuses on time in November this year and not in a staggered manner, and the landfill sites are not collecting revenue and thus the City is losing R150 million,” he said.
Modise pointed out that some waste removal companies have been awarded tenders to collect refuse at gated communities and as a result the City was losing R48 million in this regard and that those tenders must therefore be revoked.
He stressed that the new City of Tshwane government is not going to interfere with current disciplinary and criminal procedures that are being faced by some employees of the City of Tshwane as all those implicated in these matters must face the music.
However, he expressed dissatisfaction over the fact that the DA-led administration under Brink has extended the suspension of the so-called Rooiwaal Fve who had been slapped with a one month suspension without pay after being found guilty of awarding a tender irregularly to companies owned by corruption-accused Edwin Sodi.
“At the moment the municipality is paying consultants to do the work which was performed by the suspended officials as they continue to sure sit home even though there is no evidence that they would interfere in investigations against them once they are back at work,” lamented Modise.
“We would like to congratulate newly-elected Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise and we hope he is going to stick to his commitment to deliver services to the people and also scrap our debts as residents,” said LASCA leader Tshepo Mahlangu.
The Deputy Mayor’s position in Tshwane comes with a salary of R1 134 000 per year, R40 800 for cellphone allowances and R3,9 million for personal protection and transportation.
Pointing out that both the EFF and the ANC were previous opposed to the creation of the position of Deputy Mayor saying it was unnecessary and a waste of money, Tshwane FF Plus leader Grandi Theunissen said the following about the new ANC/ EFF ActionSA coalition government:
“Now that the ball is in their court, you will see them making many somersaults as this now suits them.”