The recent removal of former Tshwane mayor, Cilliers Brink, continues to be the bone of racially-motivated service delivery talks. Picture: Jacques Naude / Independent Newspapers
Former Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink’s removal has once again sparked debates over service delivery equality.
Some of the Tshwane employees expressed their happiness over Brink’s recent removal as the Capital City mayor.
One employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Star that they felt the DA’s administration under Brink prioritised white areas more than black neighbourhoods when it came to service delivery.
“The response time for example in Pretoria East was much quicker than one in Soshanguve or Hammanskraal.
“A leakage in the east or power outage would not be allowed to go more than two days whereas in townships it goes up until a week,” the source claimed.
These sentiments were consistent with what EFF leader Julius Malema said while welcoming the newly-elected city Mayor Dr Nasipi Moya last week.
Malema said for almost 10 years the DA was in charge of the city, its main agenda was to prioritise only white-populated areas and neglected black-populated areas.
“The residents of Hammanskraal, Soshanguve, Atteridgeville, Mamelodi and Ga-Rankuwa have been neglected and forced to live next to dump sites and without clean and reliable water. While the white suburbs have been given maximum attention,” the Red Berets leader said.
He further urged Moya to hit the ground running and provide services to all Tshwane residents.
Following the removal of Brink, the DA accused Gauteng ANC chairperson and Premier Panyaza Lesufi of being at the centre of orchestrating his removal.
It was also reported that the party threatened other parties to return Brink as the mayor.
This prompted DA Federal Chairperson Helen Zille to warn the ANC that this arrangement would threaten the stability of other metropolitan areas.
"If Brink is not reinstated, other stabilisation agreements in key metropolitan areas could fail. Only time will tell if these problems will lead to a further split in the GNU,” Zille said at the time.
However, DA spokesperson in Tshwane, Kwena Moloto, said the DA-led coalition government under Brink spent the majority of its budget in townships.
“Clean drinking water will be flowing through the taps in part of Hammanskraal for the first time in decades. The JJ Substation will provide residents of Soshanguve with stable electricity.
“The narrative that we only focused on white areas is a cheap political narrative by political parties that wish to divide instead of unite,” Moloto added.
He further dispelled the notion that the municipality incurred debts under DA leadership, saying that the city’s financial health improved under Brink and his mayoral committee (MAYCO).
“When comparing Tshwane’s revenue collection last year this time to now, Tshwane is collecting R1 billion more. SALGA gave Tshwane multiple awards for improved finances.”
Citing the city’s achievements under his party’s leadership, Moloto said they launched the biggest social housing project in Africa, which according to him, brought about thousands of families closer to work opportunities in the CBD.
Strangely, the project that the DA spokesperson cited as one of their accomplishments has been placed under business rescue after they were unable to pay off a debt that exceeded R130 million.
The Star
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