13/10/2026
Moya's legacy: Tshwane has the worst finances of all metros
-A substantive response to Mayor Nasiphi Moya
-Tshwane’s finances are the worst of all metros
-Infrastructure suffered while contractors benefited
-Tshwane needs accountable leadership
Nasiphi Moya will be remembered as the ActionSA politician who handed control of the City over to the same ANC comrades, cadres and tenderpreurs that nearly destroyed the City in the first place. They, including water tanker contractors, have been the biggest beneficiaries of her tenure as mayor.
In a lengthy statement released today, Moya tries to justify her term of office; the length of the statement appears to be an attempt to make up for a lack of substantial success. The truth is that her betrayal of voters, at the instruction of Herman Mashaba, has left Tshwane poorer, weaker and more vulnerable to infrastructure failures.
Moya's statement comes in the same week that RatingsAfrika confirmed that Tshwane is in the worst financial position of all the metros, a rating that reflects the deterioration in infrastructure and basic services in the nation's capital. Moya cannot claim that this is the result of other people's decisions.
Moya inherited the benefit of decisions she did not have the courage to make.
In 2023, the DA-led coalition refused unaffordable salary increases despite a violent and disruptive strike. Employees were assaulted and intimidated, infrastructure sabotaged and waste trucks burnt. We stood our ground because surrender would have sacrificed residents’ interests.
That decision saved approximately R600 million and created the breathing room to conclude a favourable payment arrangement with Eskom. The Labour Court subsequently vindicated the City’s position.
The Eskom debt had accumulated following the ANC Gauteng government’s unlawful intervention in Tshwane during 2020. Moya inherited the benefit of our financial discipline, then handed control of the City’s finances back to the ANC.
Her 'end of term' speeches leave out that inconvenient history. The financial breathing room she now celebrates was secured by a government prepared to withstand pressure and take difficult decisions.
Her budget choices made failing infrastructure worse.
Four months after becoming mayor, Moya’s administration cut frontline service funding and defunded critical infrastructure programmes to allocate more money to water tankers and security companies. Contracted services increased by R603 million. The DA warned that these choices would undermine repairs and prolong outages.
The result was a bonanza for contractors while residents waited for basic services.
Investigative reports subsequently reported R777 million in water-tanker expenditure. Information supplied to the DA indicated that less than half could be matched to purchase orders. Her report supplies no satisfactory account of those invoices or their supporting documentation.
Even half that money invested in maintenance and upgrades would have made a substantial difference. Instead, water losses increased from approximately 32% when I was mayor to 41% under Moya. That is rapid infrastructure deterioration, with more than two-fifths of the water lost before reaching residents or earning revenue.
Those losses weaken the City twice over: residents lose reliable supply, and the municipality loses income needed to maintain the network. More failures create more demand for tankers, consuming money that should help end the dependence on them.
Moya has all but forgotten Hammanskraal. Her report mentions Klipdrift modules but gives no firm timetable for completing the clean-water intervention she initiated before becoming mayor. Residents deserve reliable water and leadership that finishes the work.
The electricity crisis follows the same pattern
Moneyweb reported in June 2025 that Tshwane experienced more interruptions in the first five months of that year than during the corresponding period in 2024, despite substantially reduced Eskom load-shedding. Outages averaged approximately 22 hours. Residents described these unpredictable failures as worse than scheduled load-shedding.
The Waltloo and Njala disaster is the latest consequence of a network losing its ability to withstand faults. Aging transformers and cables require maintenance and replacement. Protection systems must isolate faults before they spread. Backup capacity must keep other parts of the network operating. Repair teams need the people, equipment and materials to restore supply.
Defunding these functions carries a price paid by households and businesses. A budget can balance on paper while the infrastructure that supports its revenue falls apart.
In March 2026, the administration announced completed repairs and upgrades at Waltloo, subject to final testing. The subsequent disaster revealed that whatever work was done did not include the necessary upgrading of protection systems.
Today is day 14. Some residents still have no electricity.
Moya’s report identifies no consequences for the gap between announcements and delivery. It does not properly account for the shortage of switching teams, which left residents waiting even after repairs were completed.
Tshwane’s water and electricity business units still lack chief executives. Essential services remain without dedicated executive leadership. Moya has had two MMCs responsible for these services, but changing the politician has not resolved the failures of management and supervision.
The economic consequences are real. Tshwane lost 85,000 jobs between April 2025 and April 2026, while Cape Town added 57,000. Her report celebrates an investment pipeline but omits the employment already lost.
Her protection of compromised leaders undermines accountability
Eugene Modise, her ANC deputy mayor and MMC for Finance, had an undeclared interest in Triotic Protection Services, a security company benefiting from City contracts. He was sanctioned but remains in charge of the finances. Moya praises him in her report.
A forensic investigation also found that CFO Gareth Mnisi failed to disclose financial interests and relationships with bidders. Moya and ActionSA voted with the ANC and EFF to classify his alleged misconduct as “less serious”.
The DA is challenging that decision in court, as we challenged their unlawful attempt to suspend City Manager Johann Mettler.
Her administration’s willingness to soften the treatment of alleged misconduct sits alongside its coalition’s attempt to write off R176 million, despite forensic recommendations for recovery and disciplinary action.
Everyone — not least the water-tanker contractors and Eugene Modise — knew that Moya presided at the pleasure and for the benefit of the ANC. Having an ActionSA mayor gave the ANC political cover. It enabled Moya to fly under the radar, avoid difficult questions and escape accountability while the same interests regained their hold on the City.
There is no reason to believe that the results would be any different if ActionSA once again delivers Tshwane to an ANC-led coalition. The same bargain would leave residents exposed to the same failures.
The only way to break this doom loop is to give the DA what we have not had: a clear mandate to govern, and freedom from relying on parties like ActionSA not to sell the city out to the ANC.
A DA majority would give us the power to appoint capable professionals, protect infrastructure funding, pursue misconduct, and carry through the reforms Tshwane needs.
