The country’s second-richest metropolitan municipality, Tshwane, which is accused of mismanaging its budget of R46-billion, got its first deputy executive mayor on 18 January after a political arrangement between ActionSA and the DA.

ActionSA’s head of governance, Dr Nasiphi Moya, was the sole candidate for the position. She is a former chief of staff in the City of Tshwane and holds a master’s degree in philosophy and a PhD in political science.

The position of deputy executive mayor had been in the pipeline since the formation of the coalition government in 2021. It was one of several key decisions agreed to at the time, but was not implemented until last week.

Asked what prompted the decision to finally fill the position now, mere months before the country heads to the polls, Moya told Daily Maverick that, after countless attempts to implement the resolution and “excuses after excuses”, the party had to “put its foot down”.

After being elected, Moya said she would focus on service delivery-related functions including infrastructure development, repairs and maintenance.

Daily Maverick understands that there were robust engagements between the parties at local level, but they did not yield any results. ActionSA then had to write to the national coalition body to express concern about the failure to fill the position two years later. The party is also said to have threatened to walk out of the coalition if the decision was not implemented.

Moya would not be drawn into commenting on the speculation, nor did she deny it. “There was no ultimatum after we understood what were the concerns about the position itself.”

There is no doubt that the move will boost the party’s election campaign in the run-up to the election, and Moya was not oblivious to this.

“As ActionSA we know that when we hit the ground campaigning for 2024, we must tell a story of a successful or a [potentially] successful coalition, and we can’t be on the outside while we can see other ways to plug the gaps.”

After being elected, Moya said she would focus on service delivery-related functions including infrastructure development, repairs and maintenance. She would also ensure that resources are allocated optimally to achieve tangible results for residents.

‘Nothing to do with service delivery’

Political analyst Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast said the move had little to do with service delivery and questioned whether ActionSA was an honest power broker if it threatened to pull out of the coalition, which would result in the government collapsing and residents being on the back foot.

“What is happening now is that the position in question has nothing to do with strengthening service delivery. This is about musical chairs…

“It goes to show that the first thing that comes to politicians’ minds is power.”

The 2021 local government elections delivered no outright winner at the polls. However, the two parties, with the help of the Freedom Front Plus and the ACDP, among others, formed a coalition government that gave them the 50+1 majority needed to govern and pass the budget.

‘Critical situation’

Overall, the coalition government has 109 out of 214 council seats, which means Moya was elected unopposed. Daily Maverick canvassed the views of other coalition partners, which were all in favour of Moya’s appointment.

But opposition parties were up in arms. The ANC’s regional secretary, George Matjila, said the party was vehemently opposed to the position being filled, citing the poor material conditions of the residents of Tshwane.

“The city is bankrupt as we speak. For three consecutive years it has not been able to pay for worker increments… The city cannot pay Eskom, Rand Water, cannot collect waste in townships.

“… It’s a critical situation. It cannot be that we have a city that prioritises a position of a deputy mayor [over] the challenges that people experience on the ground.”

The City received an adverse audit opinion from the Auditor-General for the 2021/22 financial year. It racked up R1.2-billion in wasteful expenditure in this period.

It was placed under provincial administration in 2020 by the then MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Lebogang Maile, after he contended that Tshwane could no longer carry out its mandate of delivering services to residents.

Tshwane’s service delivery woes are well documented. They were exacerbated by a four-month protracted illegal strike for wage increases that started on 26 July and ended in November 2023.

Thousands of municipal workers downed tools, demanding a 5.4% increase, the last phase of a three-year wage agreement signed at the South African Local Government Bargaining Council in 2021.

To honour the agreement, the city needs R600-million, which it has said it cannot afford, since it is also battling to pay its creditors, including Eskom and Rand Water.

Although the strike came to an end four months later, the matter remains with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Cash-strapped Tshwane targets service delivery backlog after municipal strike ends

“All parties are still committed to the mediation process, which will reconvene later this month. No decision has been taken on what the outcome of the mediation process will be,” said City spokesperson Lindela Mashigo.

The EFF’s regional chairperson, Obakeng Ramabodu, echoed the ANC’s sentiments. “The introduction of a deputy mayor role would impose an unwarranted fiscal strain on a municipal budget that is already under pressure. The resources earmarked for this role would be better allocated towards addressing urgent needs such as enhancing service delivery, developing infrastructure and implementing social advancement initiatives.

We are not trying to take over the mayorship, we are just saying co-govern and share some powers.

“This is the municipality that has accrued significant debt to Eskom due to its inability to efficiently manage revenue collection, electricity distribution, municipal administration, and payments to creditors,” said Ramabodu.

The City did not respond to Daily Maverick’s questions about the impact the position would have on its finances, other than to issue a statement by Mashigo saying “the process is still under way”.

ActionSA, however, insisted that the position would not add any strain to the budget, as it would come from within the mayoral committee. National chairperson Michael Beaumont said: “It is therefore additional responsibilities added on to the duties of a member of the mayoral committee. As such, it is not a new position and to suggest otherwise is disingenuous.”

Read more in Daily Maverick: Trouble with a capital T – Jacaranda City municipality is wilting under bad finances and scandal

Last month, the City lost finance MMC Peter Sutton, who resigned and reportedly took up a senior position in the private sector. During his tenure, Sutton spoke openly about the breakdown of internal systems and controls, and the collapse in revenue collection in the metro.

Cilliers Brink, the executive mayor of Tshwane, has since appointed Jacqui Uys as the new finance MMC. Speaking to Daily Maverick, Uys was optimistic about bringing about meaningful changes.

“It is quite a daunting task to look at the City’s finances. We have a large budget of [R46-billion] which is unfunded, and the City’s financial woes [are] no news to anybody. It’s a daunting task, but I believe that my time in the finance committee has fully equipped me to grab the bull by the horns and to continue the financial rescue mission of the City.”

She believes that, in the months to come, there will be a strong need to fix the City’s checks and balances to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent wisely and that law and order is restored, and to get more people into the taxpayers’ net. 

Deputy mayor Moya insisted that ActionSA was not power hungry and did not have intentions to topple Brink.

“We are not trying to take over the mayorship, we are just saying co-govern and share some powers. But we do not interfere with the legislation. The mayor is the political accounting officer in the municipality – the legislation allows him to delegate some functions to the exco.” DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.