The City of Tshwane has been closely contested by the ANC and the DA since the first democratic local government election in 2000. This year is no different.
In the first democratic municipal poll, the ANC’s support in the capital city in percentage terms was in the mid-50s, with the DA in the mid-30s. In 2006 the ANC’s support remained steady at 56.3%, while the DA’s dropped to 30.6%.
In 2011, however, the DA grew its share of the vote substantially to 38.6%, while the ANC’s support dropped slightly to 55.3%.
The merger of Tshwane with Metsweding, creating SA’s largest metro, was heavily criticised by the opposition as gerrymandering to ensure an ANC majority.
In 2011 the ANC obtained 118 seats in the Tshwane council, the DA 82, the Freedom Front Plus four, and the Congress of the People two, while the Pan Africanist Congress, the African People’s Convention, and the Azanian People’s Organisation have one seat each.
To understand the bitter anger that erupted in the capital two weeks ago after MP Thoko Didiza was pronounced the ANC’s mayoral candidate, it is worth returning to the events of 2011.
In that year Kgosientso "Sputla" Ramokgopa emerged as the ANC’s regional chairman at a hotly contested conference and was appointed mayor of Tshwane.
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The anger that boiled over after his recent sidelining by the ANC created perceptions that a powerful and capable individual was being removed against the will of the people. But a closer look paints an entirely different picture.
Insiders — metro staff, members of opposition parties and ANC alliance sources — say the metro is run with little regard for the difference between party and state.
Staff say Ramokgopa’s office is heavily overpopulated — with posts such as "strategic executive directors" and "deputy strategic directors" for each portfolio. Who fills those positions is critical in understanding the anger following his removal.
Insiders confirmed that people in these nonfunctionary positions are largely ANC branch chairmen, secretaries, and members. This is reflected in the metro’s salary bill.
After the 2011 merger, the metro inherited massive service delivery backlogs, but did not receive substantial additional resources from the fiscus. This created a huge challenge to deliver on its mandate and caused cash flow problems.
An update on the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs’ "back to basics" programme presented to the ANC’s national executive committee in January listed Tshwane as one of 96 municipalities that were insolvent or in financial distress.
"Technically, the city is bankrupt … salaries are paid through an overdraft; service providers are wary of doing business here because they are not paid on time," says a metro employee who wishes to remain anonymous.
Rating agency Moody’s Investors Service placed the city on notice in March, saying it was under review for a possible downgrade.
According to a Moody’s credit opinion report, the city has "high debt levels and cash flow pressure". It says the implementation of its large-scale capital expenditure programme "will continue to put pressure on the city’s credit profile".
The city’s total debt stock grew 11% to R10.3-billion in 2015. According to Moody’s, the city’s net direct debt increased to 45% of its operating revenue in 2015. Its debt exposure is "higher than the median of other rated metros in the country".
Its debt exposure is also under pressure from the cancellation of a contract to supply prepaid meters in June 2015. "If the appointment of a new service provider is delayed further, the city may have to fund the shortfall of up to R300-million, which may pose huge financial pressure," the Moody’s report says.
The smart meter issue is before the courts, and at the centre of allegations of corruption levied at Tshwane’s leadership by opposition parties, the South African Municipal Workers Union, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, and the South African Communist Party (SACP).
Insiders say tender processes are not strictly adhered to, which is alleged in the smart meter contract.
Governance in Tshwane is described as "economic politics" by one source, alleging that patronage is being dished out to the politically connected. The receipt of R75-million in contracts from the city by ANC Tshwane secretary Paul Mojapelo was repeatedly cited as an example.
Ramokgopa denies allegations of corruption, or of turning a blind eye to it. In his 2016 budget address he called on civil servants to help prevent fraud and corruption.
"A civil servant cannot simply be an individual who benefits from the gainful employment by government and, in some cases, as a steward of neopatrimonialism," he said.
"Indeed, it is more than that — civil servants must espouse a true commitment towards the development of a nation, beyond that of mere financial gain, while acknowledging that the latter will always be important towards individual well-being.
"Our current state of affairs has inextricably resulted in an urgent need for radical change to avoid a situation in which our endeavours to create more inclusive economic systems become a mere mirage of wonderful objectivity.
"We wish to assure those civil servants who perceive their role in the state as such that they are to expect a rude awakening over the next term of office."
But whistleblowers claim to be victimised; five union shop stewards from the metro police have been suspended, after claiming that they sought to reveal corrupt activities.
"There is a lot to hide in that council; even now critical posts are being filled quickly so that those in power now can rule from the grave," says one councillor, who asks to remain anonymous.
Relations between the ANC and the DA are fractious in the metro council. DA mayoral candidate Solly Msimanga’s election message centres on the negatives of Ramokgopa’s governance record.
He warns that Didiza would continue "building on a record of rising unemployment, endemic corruption, inadequate service delivery, and rampant crime".
Msimanga often highlights the R1.88-billion that has been lost to unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, which he says could have been used to create jobs and deliver better service.
But governance challenges are a pivotal reason Didiza was introduced as a compromise candidate in the metro, say ANC national leaders — aside from seeking to defuse tension between warring ANC factions aligned to Ramokgopa and his deputy, Mapiti Matsena.
DA councillor and finance spokesman Lex Middelberg took the metro to court in 2014 after it held elections for ward committee members without promulgating a by-law legalising the election.
The DA won the case and the 2012 ward committee elections were deemed illegal and unconstitutional. But payments of R1 000 were made monthly to committee members, amounting to R47m, Middelberg says. The city lost its appeals all the way to the Constitutional Court.
Should the ANC win Tshwane — and this is no certainty — Didiza would preside over a council at war. The ANC’s regional executive committee in Tshwane is divided, and the leaders of both Ramokgopa and Matsena’s factions are high on the councillor candidate lists.
The violence and unrest over Didiza’s appointment was, according to sources, co-ordinated and planned by "henchmen" aligned to Ramokgopa and Matsena, but they have faced no consequences yet.
The SACP last Sunday suspended five of its leaders in the region for their involvement in the violence and factionalism — it is understood that four of the five worked in Ramokgopa’s office. SACP sources say they were "co-opted" by the factions to co-ordinate the chaos.
The hotly contested August 3 polls in Tshwane will be smooth sailing compared with the gigantic clean-up task facing the winner.
This article first appeared in Business Day
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