The ANC-led coalition government in the City of Tshwane has slammed the previous Democratic Alliance (DA) administration, accusing it of creating a water-tanker crisis that it is now exploiting for electioneering purposes.
The coalition, which includes the EFF and ActionSA, among others, is holding an end-of-term media briefing in Pretoria.
Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise, who is also the ANC regional chairperson, even implied that former mayor Cilliers Brink lacked a basic understanding of finance.
The DA has criticised the current administration, accusing it, among other things, of making water tankers a permanent feature when they were intended as a temporary intervention. However, Modise hit back, claiming that it was under the ousted DA mayor, Cilliers Brink, that water tankering became a permanent fixture.
“The small, arrogant boy whom we removed because he didn’t love our people left a water-tanker bill of R150 million and now uses it to campaign against us,” said Modise.
Modise believes the coalition has largely succeeded in turning around what was otherwise a run-down institution within two months.
He questioned the DA’s ability to manage large budgets, saying the party had left the city in a financial mess.
“They don’t even know what we mean when we talk about a funded budget because they don’t understand how finance works. We now have two fully funded budgets approved by the National Treasury,” said Modise.
Mayor Nasiphi Moya, who represents ActionSA, said working with the DA was her biggest regret.
Meanwhile, the DA hit back, accusing the coalition of running the city into the ground.
“Residents of Tshwane are left to fight every day against government failure, and the successes Mayor Moya claims are nowhere to be seen,” the DA said in a statement on Monday.
The DA said Moya should be judged for giving the ANC a lifeline after voters declined to give the party an outright majority in the 2021 local government elections.
“Nasiphi Moya will be remembered as the ActionSA politician who handed control of the city over to the same ANC comrades, cadres and tenderpreneurs who nearly destroyed the city in the first place. They, including water-tanker contractors, have been the biggest beneficiaries of her tenure as mayor,” the DA said.