Ekurhuleni Mayoral Race: ACDP’s Mokoena targets power cuts and water losses

Caxton Local Media invited Ekurhuleni mayoral candidates, as confirmed at the time of publication, to participate in a question-and-answer interview, giving voters a chance to learn more about their plans, priorities, and hopes for the city ahead of the Local Government Elections on November 4.
The views expressed in these questionnaires are those of the respective candidates and do not represent the views of Caxton Local Media or any of its publications.
The answers are intended solely to provide voters with information about the candidates contesting the election and to help them make informed choices at the polls.

African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate Tambo Mokoena:
Q. Ekurhuleni is a major industrial and economic hub. What is your strategy for protecting existing jobs and attracting new investment?
A. “New developments – aggressively cut red tape to speed up business permits, approval of industrial developments, approval of zoning applications and rates clearance. Provide bulk infrastructure in advance. Sell unused municipal land where appropriate instead of leasing it out. Manufacturing – stop power and water outages to protect manufacturing jobs. Keep electricity tariffs down through private renewable access to the grid & negotiating with Eskom. Logistics – improve roads to keep traffic moving: resurface tarmac, fix traffic lights and streetlights. Township and SMME development – pay SMMEs within 30 days so they can stay afloat and pay their staff. Allocate localised development funds to support informal traders, SMMEs, and the township economy by improving safety, infrastructure and access to local markets. Upgrade the Ekurhuleni Fresh Produce Market to empower small traders and farmers so they do not have to travel to the Joburg market. Youth employment – apprenticeships and meaningful EPWP jobs and bursaries for tertiary studies.”

Q. The metro has faced persistent challenges around electricity, water infrastructure, roads and ageing municipal assets. Which infrastructure problem will you tackle first, and why?
A. “I will tackle electricity first, followed by water and roads. Without a reliable, cost-effective power supply, we risk losing our factories and struggling to attract new investors. Ekurhuleni is Gauteng’s industrial and logistics hub and needs a competitive electricity supply advantage to maintain jobs in the manufacturing sector. The City needs to crack down heavily on cable theft, to maintain substations diligently, and to remove illegal connections regularly. Water scarcity and infrastructure failure directly threaten basic human dignity and industrial functionality. Ekurhuleni loses almost 30% of potable water due to burst pipes, leaks and poor upkeep. We need to hire more plumbers and technicians to map and replace ageing valves and pipelines systematically. Poor roads cause traffic congestion, which undermines our logistics sector. The City must repair potholes, maintain road surfaces and keep traffic lights working on major roads.”

Q. Ekurhuleni has a large number of informal settlements. What is your plan to improve basic services while addressing longer-term housing needs?
A.”I believe in dignified housing for all. The unregulated mushrooming of shacks contributes to crime (especially GBV) and provides shelter for zama zamas, who undermine our infrastructure. We want to provide bulk infrastructure, while phasing out shacks and replacing them with permanent, modern housing. Bucket toilets and tender toilets must go. I want to see bulk water and sanitation infrastructure integrated directly into planned layouts. Ekurhuleni needs to use Public-Private Partnerships to deliver housing developments and infrastructure projects without corruption. All housing and construction tenders must be transparent – there must be strict, unbureaucratic, yet rigorously independent, evaluation processes to ensure every cent goes directly toward service delivery.”

Q. What is your plan to improve the metro’s financial position and ensure that municipal spending translates into visible service delivery?
A. “Stop waste and end UIFW by implementing the recommendations of the Auditor-General, cut our losses on hungry white elephant projects like the SAAME Building, catch and punish izinyokanyoka, have more technicians and fewer executives, hire more electricians and plumbers and fewer administrative staff and reduce consultants to the absolute minimum. Enhance revenue and use Private-Public Partnerships to generate income through facilities the City cannot maintain, create a culture of payment in Eskom areas, collect municipal bill payments from provincial and national government departments and make Gauteng Health pay for their clinics.
I will apply fiscal discipline and keep better financial records to avoid write-offs and provide evidence for UIFW consequence management, cut bonuses for HoDs who allow UIFW to escape unpunished and/or fail to deliver services, improve oversight for Supply Chain Management and enforce personal financial liability for any municipal official who authorises corrupt or non-compliant tenders.”
Q. Ekurhuleni will have a large number of candidates contesting ward seats in the 2026 elections. What will you expect your ward councillors to deliver for residents, and how will you hold them accountable for service delivery, community engagement and responding to local problems?
A. “The focus must be on clean, ethical leadership, servant governance, and strict, measurable accountability built upon Biblical principles which are councillors who serve the community rather than themselves, councillors who are capable, trustworthy people who hate dishonest gain, ward councillors must proactively monitor and report on infrastructure failures within 24 hours and follow up with municipal departments daily until the service ticket is closed, community engagement and communication and councillors must host public feedback meetings at least once a quarter. These meetings will report on the ward’s portion of the municipal budget, explain upcoming infrastructure projects, and listen directly to community concerns. They must be easy to access via digital and physical communication channels to ensure they respond swiftly to local problems as they arise. Councillors will have to sign a binding Performance Agreement with the party and the mayoral office. Their Key Performance Indicators will include their resolution rate of resident complaints, their attendance and active participation in council meetings, and their consistency in holding ward public engagements. There will be consequence management in line with the commitment to ethical governance; there will be swift consequence management for non-performance or ethical failures.”

Q: If we interview you again at the end of the 2026 – 2031 term, what specific measurable result should we be able to hold you accountable for?
A. “To ensure proper governance, we will fight for justice for the slain forensic auditor Mpho Mafole, officials charged with serious offences will be suspended and their disciplinary processes will be fast-tracked; lifestyle audits for senior officials and councillors will be implemented and we will fill 100% of senior administrative and technical positions with qualified, vetted professionals rather than political appointees. To achieve financial stability, we will commit to consecutive clean audits from the Auditor-General by eliminating irregular, unauthorised, and wasteful expenditure (UIFW), conducting annual cybersecurity audits, and improving cash on hand to 25 days. On service delivery, we will keep water losses below 30%, fix sewage blockages within 24 hours and reduce power outages.”