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ActionSA would like to clear the record on a seemingly misleading headline published by Rekord - "Tshwane debt mushrooms to R27bn".

This headline, missing crucial context, seems to imply that the City's debt to external stakeholders has ballooned, when in fact the R27bn owed is to the City for services rendered to businesses and residential property owners.

The response to this headline by many netizens, many of them aligned with the former governing party in the City, reveals their willingness to concoct false narratives to deflect the daily exposure of poor governance in the past.

Those propagating this easily re-interpretable headline are also missing context about how we got here. In 2021, debt to Tshwane already stood at a colossal R17bn, well before ActionSA got into government at any level. Under the DA's leadership, with its representatives holding Finance MMC positions, that debt ballooned to R28bn in October by the time ActionSA took up the mantle of the Mayoralty.

The City has inherited a culture of non-payment from the outgoing government that needs to change, and steps are already being taken to do so.

Upon taking office at the start of October, the City drastically ramped up its revenue collection efforts. This resulted in the City surpassing its average collection of the past three months in October.

Issued by ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont