The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Friday announced as its candidate for Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink, ahead of the 2026 local government elections, as the party bemoaned budget deficits under the African National Congress (ANC) and its coalition partners.

DA leader John Steenhuisen, speaking in Pretoria, stated that over the last decade, the City of Tshwane had gone from having a budget surplus of over R200-million to a budget deficit of more than R4-billion.

He said during Brink’s tenure as mayor, the city met the revenue targets in July, August and September of 2024.

“In every other month, Tshwane failed to collect its targeted revenue. This puts serious strain on the city’s budget, and has massive consequences for service delivery. The ANC coalition’s only solution was more tax! Rather than better using what they have had, they’ve asked you – the taxpayer – to give more, at a time when we are all already under tremendous strain with an increasing cost of living,” he said.

He further warned that with growing debt, service delivery would suffer.

Steenhuisen went on to list the "failures" of the current administration, including claims of the coalition not using proper procurement procedures in wastewater treatment, wanting to give out City Hall to Iran, conflicts of interests relating to the deputy mayor and inefficiency.

“The numbers don’t lie: everywhere the DA governs, from Cape Town to Coega, to Midvaal to uMngeni – the DA delivers. And it can deliver in Tshwane again. There is a lot to be done here, but, we can do it. It will mean that you, the residents of Tshwane, need to come out and vote to strengthen the DA’s hand,” he said.

Currently in Tshwane, there are five council seats separating the ANC from the DA. He urged people to register to vote for change.

Meanwhile, Brink accepted the party’s nomination and also placed blame on the ANC for various failures in the municipality.

“In the 18 months which my team and I led the DA coalition we took on the cadre State, and moved the city forward. After years of coalition chaos and political wrangling, we improved the city’s audit outcome, and in 2023 achieved the biggest improvement in financial sustainability of all metros,” he said.

He listed his various accomplishments during his tenure and accused the ANC and the Economic Freedom Fighters of trying to force out various officials, increasing Tshwane’s wheeling tariff and defunding water and electricity teams.

“The DA has done our best to expose what is happening in Tshwane, to hold the ANC coalition and its sidecar mayor to account. But only the voters can put an end to this farce. To finish the work we started, to build a capital city that delivers to honest, hardworking people the DA needs a strong mandate, a stable platform from which to deliver, and backing from the people for changes that have to be carried through,” he said.

Cilliers said over the next few months he wanted to engage with Tshwane residents, businesses, churches and civil society organisations for feedback on changes they wanted to see in the municipality.

“My team and I have extensive experience in government. We come from every part of this city. We speak all of its languages. We know what the municipality looks like on the inside. But we do not presume to know everything. What we learn from you, the people of Tshwane, in the following months will inform the pledges we will unveil later this year,” he stated.