Newly elected Tshwane executive mayor and erstwhile council speaker Murunwa Makwarela said his administration will uphold good governance principles in addressing the service delivery backlog dogging SA’s capital city.
The city had been without political leadership since DA councillor Randall Williams resigned with immediate effect on February 13. Makwarela, who subsequently tendered his resignation with immediate effect as council speaker, was voted in with 112 votes, beating DA councillor Cilliers Brink who received 101 votes. A total of 213 councillors cast their votes and there were no spoilt ballots.
Delivering his acceptance speech, Makwarela said now was the time to rebuild the “broken City of Tshwane”. He said the findings by the auditor-general, which led to an adverse finding, “awakened all of us”, adding the metro’s debtor’s book was in a mess. “We are a city in distress,” he said.
Randall also came under heavy criticism after the auditor-general’s report on the metro’s 2021/2022 financial year said it did not have adequate systems for identifying and disclosing all irregular expenditure, which the metro put at more than R10.4bn.
“As mayor I will put the needs of our people first. Service delivery will be enhanced, [there will be] a better life for the people of our city, I will embrace all political parties. Let’s get the basics right, let’s get our street lights working, let’s get waste removal working again, let’s build a financially resilient city. A city that works, a city that investors would be proud to invest in; let’s create opportunities for our people ... we will ensure the rule of law is upheld,” Makwarela said.
He said he will be appointing a team to address the city’s financial crisis, adding he would approach Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi and President Cyril Ramaphosa for assistance in rebuilding the municipality.
Lesufi, in his maiden state of the province address at the Johannesburg City Hall on February 20, said the situation in Tshwane was “worrying”, as the metro “is struggling to pay Eskom, and the latest auditor-general report has painted a bleak picture of a collapsing municipality”.
Makwarela said he will champion service delivery and put the residents’ needs first. “I will make sure as mayor of this capital city that our government is transparent, objective and accountable and that the needs of our people come first. We will appoint mayoral committee from all parties represented in council. I will consult all leaders of the political parties represented in council,” he said.
The ANC, EFF and ActionSA councillors, among others, welcomed Makwarela’s election, calling on him to prioritise delivery of services and to treat all political parties in council the same.
In the Tshwane metro, the ANC holds 74 seats, followed by DA with 69, the EFF 23, ActionSA 19, Freedom Front Plus 17, ACDP 2, and one seat each for the IFP, GOOD, AIC, DOP, PA, PAC, RC and ATM.
Williams resigned on February 13, saying his exit was in the best interests of the council’s multiparty coalition.
Just hours later, he said that after consultation with various political parties and to ensure the continuity of the council’s work, “I have subsequently written to the speaker and chief whip and amended my resignation to take effect from midnight on February 28.”
The Tshwane metro said in a statement last week that a legal opinion confirmed Williams’s initial resignation “was valid and took effect on midnight of the same day”.
Williams’s resignation came after the DA-led multiparty coalition — which included ActionSA, the ACDP, the IFP and Freedom Front Plus — issued a joint statement in August 2022 that they agreed to an independent investigation after allegations that Williams interfered in a R26bn energy investment proposal for the metro. The unsolicited bid was for refurbishing the city-owned Rooiwal and Pretoria West power stations.
The instability of coalitions in the Gauteng metros echoes concerns by the SA Local Government Association that service delivery in province was deteriorating as political parties battled for controls of local councils and municipalities.
The developments in Tshwane mirror those in the Johannesburg metro where DA councillor Mpho Phalatse was removed through a motion of no confidence in January and replaced by Thapelo Amad, a councillor of Al Jama-ah, which holds three seats in the 270-seat Joburg council. Joburg’s council speaker is Colleen Makhubele, the sole COPE councillor in council.
In the Tshwane metro the ANC holds 74 seats, followed by DA 69, EFF 23, ActionSA 19, VF Plus 17, ACDP 2, and one seat each for the IFP, GOOD, AIC, DOP, PA, PAC, RC and ATM.
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