Cilliers Brink in Mamelodi on Friday. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)
Corrupt officials will be fired. Tender policy will be reviewed and lifestyle audits for senior officials and supply chain staff will be mandated.
The Wonderboom National Airport will also be leased to an experienced private operator who can carry out upgrades and extensions to this municipal asset.
These are just some of the promises that Cilliers Brink of the DA makes to Pretorianians, should he be re-elected mayor of Tshwane in November.
On Friday, Brink announced his party’s plan for the capital during an event in Mamelodi.
However, the plan is not just to win the election, Brink explained, but to govern well and to end coalition chaos. The plan involves five promises.
Cilliers Brink made five promises to Pretorianians on Friday should he become mayor again. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)
Promise 1 – Corruption
“Tshwane has been hijacked — hijacked by the water tank mafia, cadre networks and tenderpreneurs,” Brink pointed out on Friday morning.
One of the first things he promises to do as mayor is to fire the corrupt officials and tenderpreneurs and replace them with honest professionals.
Brink also promises mandatory lifestyle audits for senior officials and supply chain staff to be carried out by independent suppliers.
“We will review Tshwane’s tender policy to give preference to experienced contractors.”
Brink and his team also plan to digitize procurement and internal processes, so that every official who works on a tender can be held accountable. “No more Croxley books or Excel spreadsheets. We’d rather spend money up front on ICT systems than lose money to theft.”
Brink also plans to create an anti-corruption team that will terrorize the “tsotsi’s at Tshwane Huis”.
Cilliers Brink in Mamelodi on Friday. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)
“These investigators will work with business and civil society and report directly to the executive mayor and city manager. They will work independently of the internal systems that were compromised so that investigations cannot be buried, delayed or manipulated.”
“We will speed up disciplinary processes using the findings of the special investigation unit, forensic investigations and the Madlanga Commission.
“And we will fire those who profit at the expense of taxpayers.
“Corruption in Tshwane is not accidental. It is systemic. And it survives because the system makes it possible,” Brink explained on Friday. “So we will change the system, including those who currently control it, regardless of whether they are in management positions or service providers.”
Pledge 2 – Law and order
“We will restore law and order by deploying crime-fighting technology,” Brink promised on Friday. The promised technology will reportedly include drones, CCTV cameras and a metro police control room.
The DA in Tshwane also intends to establish a centralized command and control centre, so that officers and incidents can be monitored in real time and so that incidents can be responded to more quickly and with better resources.
“If you can now open your phone and see where Uber drivers are, surely the metro police should be able to see where their officers are,” Brink explained.
“We will institute zone-based policing by assigning officers to defined areas, so communities know who their TMPD patrollers are and so we can set clear law enforcement priorities.
Cilliers Brink in Mamelodi on Friday. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)
“There are security companies in this city that work with a higher level of sophistication than our own metro police,” he explained.
And unfortunately, this is also true of organized criminals. Once we take control of our metro police, we will give them the competitive edge.
“We won’t be able to do everything at once,” Brink conceded on Friday. “But as our financial situation improves, we will equip officers with body cameras and digital evidence tools to improve prosecutions and to protect the public and officers alike.”
The DA in Tshwane also intends to join hands with the DA-controlled Department of Home Affairs and ultimately help customs and border officials with the identification and deportation of illegal immigrants.
“To ensure that all this is done, we will establish a new safety and security directorate with control over the TMPD and the emergency services department. However, an investigation unit will form part of that directorate to ensure that criminals do not wear police uniforms.”
Promise 3 – Upgrades
Brink and his team also promise to upgrade electricity, water, roads and street lights through private partnerships.
Some of the metro’s income from electricity, water and waste will reportedly be set aside in the mayor’s office, so that it can be used for maintenance and upgrades.
“We will bring in partners from the private sector through performance-based contracts, where payment is linked to results – not only as funders, but as operators,” explained Brink.
He also promised to complete the Hammanskraal water project and review the work currently being done (or rather not being done) at the Rooiwal waste water treatment plant.
Cilliers Brink in Mamelodi on Friday. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)
Promise 4 – Municipal assets
“We will use municipal assets such as power stations, the fresh produce market and the Wonderboom airport to attract investment and create jobs,” Brink further promised on Friday.
“The city owns valuable assets that are underperforming or mismanaged or neglected. We will place these assets under professional management.
“We will complete the project to place the Rooiwal and Pretoria West power stations in the hands of independent power producers.”
Brink and his team also plan to lease the Wonderboom National Airport to an experienced private operator, who can carry out upgrades and expansions.
The blue team aims to follow the same model as Cape Town and also get experienced private operators for the Fresh Produce Market and the Bon Accord quarry.
“Bring in an experienced private operator and secure a favorable supply agreement,” Brink explained on Friday.
(Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)
Promise 5 – Clean, safe neighborhoods
Finally, the DA promises to work with organized communities to keep neighborhoods safe and clean.
“A DA-led government will roll out city improvement districts right across the city,” Brink promised on Friday.
“Understanding that people already pay too much in property taxes and rates, we will enable these city improvement districts to generate some of their own money by using parking spaces, advertising space and, where appropriate, merchandising.
“We will join hands with reputable non-profit organizations to build safe spaces for the homeless and displaced. Safe spaces will also provide the city with emergency shelter, so we can clear illegally occupied land and buildings.
“If we can start with these promises, we can significantly improve the finances of the city,” explained Brink.
“This will allow us to complete the projects that have been neglected for a long time — including the repair of the sinkholes in Centurion and Laudium, the upgrading of roads such as Buitekant in Soshanguve and the repair of Mabone’s broken sewer systems.
“We will even be able to restore our historic Pretoria City Hall to its former glory.”
(Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)
“DA will come back stronger,” promises Brink
“I stand before you after serving as your mayor for 18 months,” Brink said in Mamelodi on Friday and then referred to his DA team who served with him at the time: Themba Fosi, Kingsley Wakelin, Ofentste Madzebatela, Jackie Uys, Dana Wanneburg and Katlego Mathebe.
“They come from every corner of this city. They speak all its languages. And they stand head and shoulders above the people who now hold positions of power at Tshwane House.
“We weren’t perfect,” he conceded.
“But we set an example. And we made progress.
“As the DA, we will come back stronger. And this time we will come back wiser, more deliberate and more determined to change the system itself and not just manage its failures.”
(Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)