Dumelang, Goeiemore, Good morning!

It is great to be with you this morning in our capital to announce the DA’s Mayoral Candidate, to rescue this city!

Before I get there, let me just tell you how happy and proud I am to be here.

Millions of South Africans come to work here. We are a mix of cultures and languages from all around South Africa, in Tshwane.

And it’s not just South Africans.

We also have the second highest number of diplomatic missions in the world, after Washington DC, right here. These foreign workers tell their home countries what South Africa is like. If things work well, it’s a happy and prosperous city.

If they don’t, it can be bad for everyone, and our country’s image.

So, we must ensure that we have the best candidate running this city.

And there is a lot of work to do. Let me tell you why:

After leading a programme of state capture and cadre deployment in Tshwane before 2016, the ANC has made every effort to make the city completely ungovernable under coalitions led by the DA.

In this, they have been assisted by the EFF and other smaller parties, like ActionSA.

Over the last decade, the city has gone from having a budget surplus of over R200 million to a budget deficit of more than R4 billion.

The only months that Tshwane met the revenue targets in the last year was when it had a DA mayor – July, August, and September 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.

The Gauteng High Court has now set aside their additional tax (levy). In the meantime, Tshwane’s debt has grown above R28 billion, which means that the city is not collecting enough, and service delivery is going to suffer.

They’ve also failed to treat wastewater by using proper procurement procedures.

They’ve acted in bad faith. Action SA mayor, Nasiphi Moya, wants your City Hall to be given to Iran. A country well known for its ties to terrorism and human rights abuses.

And they have held conflicts of interest (like ANC deputy mayor Bonzo Modise failing to declare his personal involvement in a security company doing business with Tshwane).

They have run roughshod over you. They have behaved inefficiently, illogically, wastefully and – frankly – unethically in every coalition they have ever led.

And they have been aided by a host of smaller parties who have put personal ambition above you, the residents, every single time.

For a brief moment, recently, there was a window of hope.
Between 2023 and 2024, for eighteen months, we saw:

Stabilised municipal finances by collecting revenue through the #TshwaneYaTima drive – which made sure that the city’s books balanced,

A sustainable energy strategy: a move to lease Rooiwal and Pretoria West power stations to independent operators to reduce load-shedding,

Upgrades to treat wastewater and clean the water in Hammanskraal.

Small things done right: public spaces were lit, and potholes were fixed.

1200 New houses built in Marabastad,

A three-year internship programme for young plumbers, electricians, welders, fitters, turners and boiler makers,

Spending on Tshwane’s townships, including (a) the upgrade of the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Plant, (b) The project to stabilise the power supply to Soshanguve (R60 million), (c) Road upgrades in Mamelodi such as J Maleleka Drive (R20 million), (d) Road and stormwater rehabilitation in Garankuwa Zone 4 (R42 million), (e) The Wonderboom Intermodal Bus Facility (R90 million), (f) the right people appointed to senior managerial posts, making for seamless governance and (g) good governance: residents billed correctly, ethically procured goods and services, and proper connections to the water and electricity grids.

We achieved this because for those eighteen months, we had a brilliant DA mayor. A no nonsense mayor, with one firm priority. Ensuring that the lives and livelihoods of Tshwane residents improved.

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.

The DA simply has to be the biggest party in any coalition government if we are to be able to make sustained, and meaningful progress.

This last Monday, I announced our six-point plan to turbocharge South Africa’s economy.

I did that because we have been watching the trends for the past 30 years under one-party ANC rule. We know what works. We know what doesn’t. And we are not afraid to make the changes to fix it.

This plan is for everyone. It’s for the pensioner in Pretoria North who needs clean water, the small business owner in the CBD who needs the lights to stay on, and the young graduate in Soshanguve who needs a job to start their life.
This city’s race for mayor will be incredibly tight.

Right now, there are just five seats separating the ANC from the DA in the council. Five seats.

Your vote can decide whether Tshwane moves forward or slides back.

So, I simply ask you:

Do you want more irregular tenders? More poor service delivery? More cadre deployment? More corruption gnawing away at our hard-won freedoms?

Or,

Do you want a Mayor who listens, who delivers, who doesn’t waste your tax money, who won’t appoint their friends or political allies, and,

A mayor who will fight every single day to make sure your streets are clean, water runs in your taps, electricity powers your home, and jobs are created in your city?

That is the choice. And that is why you must register to vote.

In a race this close, your vote is your voice and it can change everything.

It is now my privilege to introduce the person who has a proven track record of delivering in Tshwane,

The person who did it for eighteen months from 2023 to 2024,

The person who will do it again if they’re given the chance, and again, and again, because they’re one of your own and they love this city as much as you do;

I give you the DA’s candidate for Mayor of Tshwane: Cilliers Brink.