Lesufi’s Tshwane lies a sign of desperation

14 February 2024

The Democratic Alliance (DA) Tshwane Caucus denies the misleading statements made by the ANC and Premier Lesufi, regarding the alleged withdrawal of Grant funding by the National Treasury in Tshwane. These claims are driven by a desperate attempt to mislead the public in the lead-up to the 2024 Provincial elections.

It is true that National Treasury has written a letter of intent to the City Manager of Tshwane regarding the underspending of grant funding in the 2023/2024 financial year. It is however a blatant lie by the ANC to suggest that R2.6 Billion in grant funding would be returned to National Government. The amount in question equates to closer to R650 Million. Moreover, the City Manager has until next week to respond to National Treasury in order to detail the planned measures to ensure the full utilization of the grant funding before the financial year concludes in June 2024. These measures have been adopted by Council.

It is also important to highlight that Tshwane was not the only Municipality to receive such a letter from National Treasury. In Gauteng, the Cities of Johannesburg and Ekhuruleni both received similar letters. However, conveniently for Premier Lie-Sufi and the ANC, the only letter to be leaked was Tshwane’s. The campaign season is upon us and the ANC’s desperation can be seen through their attempts for cheap political point scoring.

It is true that Tshwane has underspent several grants so far in this financial year. However, this is as a result of the introduction of tighter controls in order to curb corruption and fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the Municipality.

Irregular contracts under the ANC administration in Tshwane including the PEU Smart Meter Contract, Tshwane Broadband Contract and Moipone Fleet Contract has cost residents billions of rands. The same Cadres deployed by the ANC to loot Tshwane still remain a part of the Tshwane work force. In order to ensure the ANC no longer has free rein to steal from the residents of Tshwane, tighter controls and oversight have needed to be implemented. While this has decreased the speed in which grants are spent, it has ensured funds are spent on the residents of Tshwane instead of funding ANC politicians lifestyles.

Issued by Kwena Moloto, DA Tshwane Spokesperson, 14 February 2024