City of Tshwane: Monthly Statement to Residents

Monthly statement to residents from the Executive Mayor of Tshwane

 Dear Tshwane Residents

I hope that you have all had a warm and joyful September as we welcomed spring into our city. During this month we also got to celebrate our diversity and unique cultures, as it was also Heritage Month in South Africa.

City of Tshwane multiparty coalition

 Recently, there has been intense media focus on the stability of coalition governments with the events that unfolded in Johannesburg. I want to take this opportunity to assure you that in the City of Tshwane our multiparty coalition is stable and the City’s leadership is working well together. At a local level, we are making sure that we regularly consult and engage on issues and work together towards building our city.

While at times we may disagree, we have clearly defined conflict-resolution mechanisms which help us to move forward. Coalition governments are going to be a more permanent feature of South African politics and we are fully committed to ensuring that we stay united and demonstrate how we work as a team in the City.

Eskom and load-shedding

Regrettably, we continue to contend with load-shedding, which has a significant damaging impact on our infrastructure and electricity network. These networks were never designed to be continuously switched on and off.

The City is examining all options to decrease our dependency on Eskom. Recently, I took a public participation report to Council which sought to engage residents on a proposal we had received to lease out the land around the City’s old power stations to have gas turbines installed. Unfortunately, this report had to be withdrawn due to a lack of support. Nonetheless, we remain committed to bringing forward solutions that decrease our dependency on Eskom.

Load-shedding has further given rise to criminals who target our electricity network to either steal or vandalize our infrastructure during load-shedding. While we are exploring new security technology to protect our infrastructure, the affected departments are also working with the Tshwane Metro Police Department to prevent and respond faster to incidents of infrastructure vandalism.

I know the regional operations teams who have to attend to power outages have been under incredible strain and I want to acknowledge them for their efforts in responding to prolonged power outages as a result of load-shedding.

While on Eskom and load-shedding, the City of Tshwane wishes to make it clear that we reject the excessive tariff price hike that is proposed by Eskom for the 2023/24 financial year. The proposed tariff increase of 32,02% is crippling and will have a detrimental effect on Tshwane residents, businesses and the already precarious financial health of the City.

Heritage Month

To commemorate this eventful month and as part of our tourism packages, here at home the City of Tshwane, as a strategic partner, successfully hosted the 11th edition of the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) Expo and Air Show at the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Centurion. The AAD Expo is a family-friendly event with an exciting air show that once again bedazzled all the spectators this year.

The City is fully behind the AAD Expo and Air Show as events such as this one have a positive economic impact, offering job and business opportunities to our residents.

As a caring City, our Community and Social Development Services Department further organized three buses to transport 120 Tshwane-based learners to attend the AAD Expo and Air Show. These are learners in Grades 9, 10, and 11 who have excelled in science and mathematics, and earned the opportunity to experience and enjoy exposure to a new world of aerospace and aviation.

During this Heritage Month, the City also supported the first Spelling Bee competition that was conducted in South African indigenous languages at Stanza Bopape Community Hall in Mamelodi. Our coalition government believes that it is important as a society that we continue to encourage our learners to freely express themselves in their indigenous languages and celebrate the cultural wealth of our nation.

Our cultural and natural heritage offerings in Tshwane, which include museums, heritage sites, monuments, and nature reserves, remain open for visitors to explore. Similarly, our swimming pools are open across all regions of Tshwane just in time to welcome spring. Our pools play an important part in the recreational activities offered by the City.

Pharmacy Month

As part of our September programs, we also commemorated Pharmacy Month with various services and information health talks. One of the key programs was the City of Tshwane Youth and Adolescent Educational Health Day which took place on 30 September 2022 at Atteridgeville Community Hall.

Still on health matters, the City of Tshwane hosted an animal vaccination, tick and flea control, and deworming campaign in Eersterust and Soshanguve. The programme was a success with many residents taking their pets and animals for vaccination.

City finances

The state of the City’s finances has come under media scrutiny recently and I want to just engage on a number of points.

Since we inherited the R4,3 billion deficit left by the administrators, it has been a slow process to gradually turn around and stabilize the City’s finances. It is not going to happen overnight and will require continued fiscal discipline and management well into the future. This is why we have started with our aggressive Tshwane Ya Tima collection campaign where we have been disconnecting defaulting clients.

One of the biggest bills that we pay is Eskom. We buy electricity in bulk from Eskom and sell it to residents. However, when Eskom bills us they expect payment within 15 days. The City’s collection processes are for periods of 30 to 60 days, which means paying Eskom within 15 days severely strains our cash flow.

We have been engaging Eskom continuously on this, providing payment plans and sticking to them. We do not have any historical debt with Eskom. But we have indicated to them that until our cash flow stabilizes, the 15-day payment period is currently difficult for us to manage. It seems now that each month Eskom attacks us on this matter, which we then publicly respond to. In my view this is completely unnecessary as we ensure that we service the amount owed.

Recently, there was a media uproar when salaries in September were delayed in payment by a few hours. Immediately there was an attempt to frame it as a result of the City’s weak finances by opposition parties, which was reported on widely. All of which was totally false.

The simple fact was that it was an administrative error by the City’s bank in processing

and releasing payments to other banks.

One of our core priorities as the multiparty coalition in Tshwane is restoring the financial stability of the City. A process that is deliberately undermined through the malicious spreading of false information to drive political agendas.

Responsive governance

The mayoral oversight visit program to assess basic service delivery across the seven regions of Tshwane is continuing well. In September, we went to Region 6 in Mamelodi and Region 7 in Bronkhorstspruit where we inspected various service delivery items, such as fixing potholes and street lights and conducting maintenance at public spaces and parks.

These oversight visits are not publicity stunts. As the Executive Mayor, I conduct a frank assessment and provide feedback to officials on areas where we need to improve. Indeed, our service delivery levels are not where we would like them to be, but we are continuously working to improve and ensure quality service delivery to our communities.

City Manager

Finally, I would like to formally welcome Mr. Johann Mettler as City Manager. He began his duties at the beginning of September and has had to hit the ground running in attending to various matters of governance. Mr. Mettler comes with a wealth of experience and knowledge.

The City has not had a full-time City Manager in three years and concluding this appointment process was a core priority for the multiparty government. A full-time City Manager will restore administrative stability and good governance to take the City forward.

Kind regards

Ald Randall Williams