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First green shoots of recovery in Tshwane

Dear Editor

For a municipality that faced serious headwinds across many fronts a year ago, the efforts by the DA-led coalition in Tshwane – under Mayor Cilliers Brink, to register the first green shoots of recovery in the metro is commendable.

The mission to rescue the capital city is well underway. All stakeholders in the city should now give Mayor Brink and his coalition partners all the support they need to get the city working again.

In just under a year, the City has managed to achieve an improved audit outcome from the Auditor General (A-G). What’s more, the cash flow and creditor issues that had been flagged by the A-G have been addressed, with Mayor Brink committing to clear address the last outstanding audit item that relates to property, plant and equipment.

Commenting on this milestone in his State of the City Address yesterday, Mayor Brink pointed out that while Tshwane’s financial rescue mission is far from complete, he remained optimistic that the City is working towards achieving an unqualified audit opinion.

Mayor Brink and his coalition partners have not been scared to make the difficult but necessary decisions to get the City on a sound financial footing. The budget funding plan implemented early this year has reigned in runaway expenditure and has given the City some headroom to improve its cash flow.

As part of Tshwane’s financial rescue mission, Mayor Brink has set clear targets to collect R1-billion a month for the next six months from defaulting customers and businesses. The much publicised ‘Tshwane Ya Tima’ initiative, which disconnects ratepayers with outstanding debt on their electricity bills, is an integral cog of this debt collection exercise.

In addition to improving the metro’s financial health, Mayor Brink announced an extensive infrastructure investment commitment that will see the replacement, upgrade and construction of wastewater treatment facilities, replacement of worn out water network pipes and the expansion of reservoirs.

Although much still needs to be done, Mayor Brink and his coalition partners are making progress in turning around Tshwane for the benefit of its residents. Tshwane will succeed because the DA model of good governance is working overtime to put mechanisms in place that will improve service delivery and the metro’s financial sustainability.

On 29 May, the residents should vote for the DA and its Multi Party Coalition (MPC) partners to ensure that the good works that has been started by Mayor Brink and his coalition partners receives full support from an MPC led government.

Regards

Eleanore Bouw-Spies MP
DA Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA)

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