The DA’s Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink says his election as the party’s deputy federal chairperson will not compromise his ability to run his campaign.
Brink was elected as one of three deputy federal chairpersons at the party’s federal congress in Midrand.
Speaking to Sowetan, he said he made the calculations before he decided to run.
“I would not have run for any position that would have compromised my ability to run the campaign in Tshwane. For me, professionally and personally, that is the most important thing. We have to save our city, especially after what we’ve seen at the Madlanga commission,” he said.
His comments also come on the back of ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula’s remarks about reclaiming Tshwane, which he made during the Solomon Mahlangu lecture in Pretoria.
Brink said the ANC in coalition with ActionSA in Tshwane had left “a stain” over the issue of water tankers.
“Spending on water tankering in formalised areas has gone up from R140m a year to R777m since Nasiphi Moya became mayor ... so what Fikile Mbalula and the ANC have to explain to the public is: what have they done to Tshwane? Because they’ve installed a third-party mayor, but clearly the game of looting the state has continued,” he said.
“I don’t think the ANC deserves to be the biggest party. In fact, they need to do a lot of introspection, especially in the nation’s capital.”
Brink said he aims to finish what he started in Hammanskraal.
“In 2023, a few months after I was elected, we partnered with the national government. We made a deal. Magalies Water constructed a multimillion-rand modular treatment plant on the Pienaars River because the Apies River is polluted.
“Why has the Hammanskraal clean water project not been completed, despite the ribbon being cut? I believe it’s because there’s a strong incentive to keep spending money on water tankers instead of giving people water in their taps,” he said.
Brink said municipalities are still laden with ANC cadres, which makes progress difficult.
“Let’s be honest, many municipalities are still populated by deployed ANC cadres. You come in wanting to work professionally, but everything is politicised. Any initiative you take is vulnerable to sabotage or corruption,” he said.
“The politics in Tshwane is chaotic. We haven’t had one mayor serve a full term, from the beginning to the end, and answer to the electorate.”
Brink said stability was needed.
“We [DA] are not perfect; we have made mistakes. If I could go back, I would have been far tougher on personnel, especially management,” he said.
Sowetan
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.