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Mind shift is the solution for Tshwane’s future, says mayor

Looking back on 2023, Brink singles out the cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal and the loss of life as a low point.

“We are doing innovative things that haven’t been done before.”

This is according to Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink.

His dream for Tshwane is for it to be clean, safe and beautiful.

The plans to realise these and other dreams this year are already gaining momentum, said Brink.

Looking back at the highlights and disappointments this year, he said the loss of life during the cholera outbreak was a low point.

“We must prevent this from happening again at all costs,” said Brink.

The appointment of the seven new top management members was a highlight for him.

He singles out the appointment of the head of the metro police, Yolanda Faro.

“After the unprotected strike, it is necessary that law and order are reinstated. The city must also be cleaned up from all sides. A mayor’s hands are tied without the right municipal department leaders. ”

He refers to plans to divide the city into 30 corridors next year, where priorities such as the cutting of grass next to main roads and fixing of traffic lights and traffic signs will be prioritised.

“I want to be proud to drive on these roads myself,” said Brink.

Commenting about last month’s by-elections, he points out that the DA victory wouldn’t have been possible without the cooperation of the Freedom Front Plus.

“We are thankful that they did not have candidates in the two intermediate constituencies. Sometimes it is difficult to reconcile political parties’ manifestos and progress is slow, but we are moving ahead by taking co-decisions with collegial respect.

“Coalitions are the future of government at the municipal level. I repeat my election promises about this: We as political parties must also love Tshwane and its residents more than we hate each other,” said Brink.

Looking back on 2023, Brink singles out the cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal and the loss of life as a low point. Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink. Photo: Elize Parker

Another highlight for him was the energy summit.

Brink points out: “We are making progress in establishing the city’s independence of Eskom power with the institution of private partnerships around power stations.”

Pending matters such as the unprotected strike where Tshwane is still involved in mediation and the financial dilemma in which the city finds itself, are lows that are receiving his immediate attention.

“With the financial situation we are working at eliminating unnecessary expenditure and to give taxpayers value for their money by increasing sources of revenue,” Brink emphasised.

One way of collecting revenue more effectively is by improving the meter system.

Brink stresses that the damage done to the metro’s revenue collection by the setting up of the PAYO system in 2013 has not yet been completely undone.

“Luckily, we now have gotten rid of the system and will avoid the same mistakes if we enter into a new partnership around the meter system,” he explained.

For the institution of procedures for a new property evaluation role in 2025, he hopes to put more effective property tax tariffs in place.

Brink stresses that the city council is highly aware of how much residents are suffering under the high cost of living in a South African economy that is not growing.

“We cannot allow that big consumers are being subsidised by small households. It remains our goal to protect residents,” Brink said.

Another measure to combat the financial dilemma was to apply to the National Treasury for the city’s Eskom debt to be written off.

Tshwane’s application comes on the strength of an offer from the Treasury to all the municipalities.

Tshwane however will not be able to accept the offer unconditionally.

The metro still wants to negotiate the conditions for the offer.

Brink mentions that they are also looking into a better way to communicate with residents.

For this, a computer application is being planned in the future.

“We want to reduce our dependence on the call centre and empower residents to communicate complaints to us,” said Brink.

An SMS system is also being planned for service delivery issue complaints such as power cuts, to facilitate navigation of the web portal and to make walk-in centres more accessible for older residents.

ALSO READ: Tshwane gets green light to create deputy mayor post

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