Political parties in the City of Tshwane have condemned Mayor Cilliers Brink’s speech that was delivered in the Council chambers on Thursday 18 April.
“The mayor doesn’t know what he is doing,” opined Rise Mzansi Tshwane Regional chairperson Michael Shackleton.
Shackleton insisted that to start with, the incumbent mayor Cilliers Brink was not elected through an actual election but became the City’s mayor after the DA removed his predecessor due to ineptitude in delivering services to the people of Tshwane and a shameful assessment of the by the Auditor General regarding the Metro’s finances.
He said both the ANC and DA have failed the people of Tshwane.
“When the ANC was in power in Tshwane there were multiple failures like the water crisis in Hammanskraal and when the DA came into power it sold the residents a false dream,” said Shackleton.
“When previous mayor Solly Msimaga came into power he promised that in his tenure the water crisis in Hammanskraal would be turned around and that the Babelegi industrial area would be revived and jobs would be provided but nothing tangible in this regard has happened,” fumed Shackleton.
“The number of mayors that the DA has given us is innumerable and all of them have failed, including incumbent mayor Cilliers Brink,” said Shackleton.
Regional chairperson of trade union South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) Ngwako Mathabathe told Tshwane Talks that the mayor simply repeated a speech that he delivered last year during his 2023 State of the Capital Address.
“Whatever he said today means nothing to us as workers of the Tshwane Metro Municipality,” said Mathabathe.
“The mayor is not aware that the working class is at the center of service delivery and if the working class is not taken care of, he will never achieve his objectives even though he has noble plans for the city,” said Mathabathe.
Mathabathe bemoaned the fact that Mayor Brinks talks about employing new staff while at the same time he is dismissing some workers without following correct procedure.
EFF Councillor Benjamin Lesoloane told Tshwane Talks that the mayor is running away from the issue of the City’s finances which are depleted at the moment due to his failure.
“How can you expect municipality workers to deliver services to the community if you don’t increase their salaries?” asked Lesoloane rhetorically.
“The reality here is that Brinks is trying to charm people about things that he has failed to do,” he fumed.
Addressing the media after his State of the Capital Address, Mayor Cilliers Brink said the key prioritiies of his administration were three, namely the financial rescue of the City through the Tshwane Ya Tima initiative which will result in those indebted to the City being compelled to pay for services after being they have been cut off.
The second priority, according to Brink, is energy independence which will result in the private sector being heavily involved and reducing dependence for electricity on Eskom.
The third priority, according to Brink, is securing the municipality’s infrastructure including substations, and armed response would be used as the current security personnel has failed to secure the municipality’s assets.
“I fully appreciate the fact that much of what we have done is not yet experienced by ordinary residents in their daily lives, but I am committed to working with our partners in the coalition and the opposition parties in the Council to make sure that we build a capital city that works for all its people,” said Brink.