Msimanga leaves Tshwane a better place after decades of looting by failing ANC

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng would like to thank outgoing Mayor of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga for his impressive record during his tenure as Mayor.

Today Msimanga formally – during today’s council meeting - tendered his resignation as the Executive Mayor of Tshwane.

When the DA took over the Tshwane Municipality from the failing ANC in 2016, we inherited a R2 billion deficit.

Under the leadership of Msimanga, we were able to correct this and show a surplus at the end of the first financial year in 2017.

The continuous looting by the failing ANC led to a collapse of service delivery to the residents of Tshwane.

There was a severe backlog in providing services to the people of Tshwane and the lack of maintenance of critical infrastructure like water pipes, especially asbestos water pipes that had to be replaced 15 years ago, led to residents experiencing water issues, especially in Hammanskraal.

The negligence of the uncaring ANC has led to them awarding tenders to friends who installed the incorrect piping in Ga-Rankuwa because they used the wrong specifications.

Furthermore, we uncovered R1.5 billion that was squandered by the previous ANC government and have reduced unauthorized expenditure by over a billion rand and irregular expenditure by R100 million.

But in just two years, the DA led administration was able to turn things around in the Metro by doing the following:

Selling the Mayoral mansion and using the R5 million from the sale to build 40 RDP houses;

Established the Msimanga Informal Trader Bursary Fund, which has made R226 325 available to settle outstanding fees for the 2017 academic year;

Creating investment confidence, which has resulted in the City receiving a credit upgrade from Moody’s which gave it a stable outlook;

An investment of R3.8 billion that has created 1850 new jobs;

15 new projects are in the pipeline worth approximately R2 billion in the manufacturing industry; and

Opened the EPWP programme to all residents, not just those associated or linked to the ruling party.

It is clear that the DA is the only party committed to bringing change to the lives of the people of Gauteng.

We will not be party to a coalition of corruption, which is clearly the only thing the ruling party in the province can offer the residents of Gauteng.

When we are voted into power in Gauteng after the May general elections, we will ensure that all coalitions of corruption are rooted out and we will focus on bringing services to our people who are in desperate need of jobs, dignified housing and basic services.

Msimanga will now be focussing his full attention on his Premier Campaign. The DA remains fully committed and supportive of Solly’s campaign for Premier as we can only effect greater change to the people of Gauteng, by taking over the province after the elections.

Statement issued by DA Gauteng leader, John Moodey, 31 January 2019