The United Africans Transformation (UAT) party is urging newly-elected City of Tshwane mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya to address critical service delivery issues in the metro, including blackouts, pothole-riddled roads, uncollected waste and inconsistent water supply, saying that former mayor Cilliers Brink failed to resolve them.
Moya, who was elected last week, recently revealed members of the mayoral committee composed of 10 councillors from various political parties, including the African National Congress (ANC), EFF, GOOD party, and ActionSA.
Maya took the leadership position of the metro which has been in the spotlight, after scooping more votes than the Democratic Alliance’s Brink.
Following her election, she promised the residents that they will witness proper basic service delivery under her leadership.
The UAT leader, Wonder Mahlatsi, congratulated Moya, but urged her to prioritise service delivery and to avoid political squabbles leading to the local government elections in 2026 and to focus on service delivery.
The UAT - which is not represented in the Tshwane council - has one seat in Parliament, and another in the Limpopo Legislature. It was included in the government of national unity GNU), but withdrew after failing to be assigned any positions in cabinet.
“Residents also experienced a hostile attitude towards the employees of the City.”
He pointed out another issue was salary levels of municipal officials, which he said was not increased for two years, despite the South African Local Government Association (Salga) and labour unions pushing for salary increases.
“The matter has been in court for over two years and the City has been defending this case. We consider this as a waste of state resources.”
Mahlatsi claimed that workers were dismissed for participating in a protected strike, while senior managers were suspended without being charged.
“We saw a reverse of the apartheid system where skilled African professionals were replaced with unskilled white officials,” he claimed.
He urged the newly appointed MMCs to prioritise the provision of services to the townships and rural areas of Tshwane, which are experiencing blackouts, potholes-riddled roads, uncollected garbage and inconsistent water supply.
“UAT's vision is to restore the dignity and pride of an African child. The dignity of an African child can only be restored by passing a pro-poor budget during the budget adjustment process in January and February 2025.”
Mahlatsi called on Maya to tackle the plight of the workers and reverse the decision taken by Brink against increases, stating that better employee morale will improve service delivery.
“It is true that if you take care of your employees, they'll take care of your business.”
He also urged Moya to fast-track the ownership and transfer of the cross-border industrial parks (Babelegi, Ga-Rankuwa, and Ekandustria), formalise informal settlements, reduce the City's credit book, settle outstanding Eskom debt, and complete the Hammanskraal Water Project.
Mahlatsi said since the launch of the UAT almost two years ago, the party has been observing political developments in Tshwane.
He said constant changes of the mayors at the metro since 2016 reflected political instability that affected service delivery, especially in the townships and rural communities.
IOL Politics