Moya vs Brink: Mayoral hopefuls make their case to lead Tshwane

With 39 days to go until the 2026 local government elections, the fight for the capital city has taken centre stage.

Tshwane incumbents ActionSA and its predecessor, the DA, both held rallies to fire up their supporters on Saturday.

ActionSA’s mayoral candidates for the all the metropolitan municipalities were at the Johannesburg City Hall on Saturday, while the DA Tshwane caucus brought its campaign roadshow to Atteridgeville.

Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya and DA candidate Cilliers Brink both promised safety, security and economic growth, while stating they would be tough on corruption.

Moya asked for five more years, while Brink warned that there was a greater danger lurking behind an ActionSA mayorship.

‘Five more years of what?’

Brink boasted that the DA’s vast network of members and the party’s experience in government gave it a better understanding of what the people of Tshwane needed.

“We speak all of the city’s languages. We know all of the streets, and you know what, we are ready to take them back.

“Not for ourselves, but for the people, so we can get our city working,” said Brink.

Brink told the rally that the country and province were being bled dry by lawlessness, cadre deployment and tenderpreneurs who had weakened government capacity.

“Once those institutions are broken, it leaves the doors and the gates open for the criminals to come inside.

“Unless we make a change of leadership in this country and in this city, we should not expect things to change,” said the former mayor.

He added that choosing his party would ensure public safety, promote merit-based appointments and bring infrastructure development and service delivery to all corners of Pretoria.

Brink closed by taking a shot at ActionSA, accusing the incumbents of being ANC puppets.

“Five more years of what? Five more years of corruption, of water tankering, of jobs for pals. Five more years of job losses. We say, no!

“When you see Herman Mashaba, tell him to go back to Johannesburg because Tshwane is not for sale.

“If you risk your vote on a small party, you risk your vote being sold out to the ANC,” Brink concluded.

‘We chose to turn the page’

Moya stated that she was the sixth mayor of Tshwane in 10 years and declared she would be the first not to be removed by a vote of no confidence.

She claimed that the city inherited unfunded budgets, municipal debt, stagnant economic growth and high unemployment.

“We could have spent the next two years blaming everyone who came before us, instead we chose to work.

“We chose to turn the page and begin writing a new chapter for our capital, for the people of Tshwane,” Moya said.

During her two years in office, she said the city had written off R4billion in municipal debt owed by indigent households, bolstered revenue collection, improved audit outcomes and put in place an economic development plan.

Moya said this had brought in R100 billion in private investment, created 300 000 job opportunities and recouped an additional R1.5 billion in municipal rates.

The mayor explained her administration had placed an emphasis on boosting the informal trading and township economy through by-laws that prioritised South Africans.

Coupled with the arrest of 1 400 undocumented foreigners in last two years, she reminded her supporters that they did not vote for ActionSA to “be the mayors of Harare and other municipalities elsewhere”.

Moya concluded by saying strong municipalities meant a strong South Africa, and reiterated her claim on five more years.

“We ask South Africans to turn the page on failed local government and build a new chapter of responsible government, reliable services, economic opportunity and the rule of law,” Moya concluded.