Dr. Nasiphi Moya delivers her city speech. (Photo: X)
As far as Mayor Nasiphi Moya is concerned, the capital is doing very well.
The City of Tshwane’s finances are stable and there is no water crisis, she says.
“We are building a capable city that pays its bills, delivers services and puts its people first,” said Moya in her second city speech as mayor of the capital on Thursday.
But if you ask the DA and the FF Plus in Tshwane, they will tell you that Moya has now officially lost all touch with reality. For example, water losses rose to 41% under her leadership, which led to more and worse water interruptions right across the city, says Cilliers Brink, the DA’s mayoral candidate.
And the funded budget she boasts is based on the assumption that revenue collection currently stands at 93%. It does not, emphasizes Grandi Theunissen, the FF Plus’ caucus leader in Tshwane.
Dr. Nasiphi Moya delivers her city speech. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)
‘No water crisis’
“There is no water crisis in Tshwane,” Moya insisted in her city speech on Thursday.
She believes the challenge is currently water losses caused by aging infrastructure, leaks and inefficiencies – not a lack of bulk supply.
“The city meets a demand of 800 million to 900 million liters per day.”
Brink says Moya is apparently unable to draw the connection between the city’s dry taps and her government’s decision to increase their spending on water tankers from R140 million in 2024 to R777 million in 2025.
Brink believes that this R777 million – a figure that Moya’s party disputes – could have been spent on upgrading the aging infrastructure and repairing leaks that the mayor is talking about.
But instead, ANC politicians wrongly took advantage of it. This apparently includes people like Eugene Modise – Moya’s deputy mayor and mayoral committee member for finance – whom she thanked in her speech on Thursday for the good financial position Tshwane is currently in.
Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)
‘Funded Budget’
Moya pointed out that her government delivered a fully funded budget in the 2025-26 financial year. This is the first funded budget since the 2021-22 annual budget passed in June 2021, she said in her speech.
Moya also said that this budget was independently assessed by the national treasury and confirmed as credible and funded.
“Cash-backed reserves grew from R835 million to more than R1.9 billion, representing growth of approximately 128%. This momentum continues, with reserves expected to total R2.86 billion by the end of the 2025-26 financial year,” she said.
“This work has been strengthened by the leadership of the Deputy Executive Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Finance, Councilor Eugene Modise,” she said.
According to Moya, her government has also reduced the metro’s historical debt. This includes Eskom-related debt which fell from R6.66 billion in October 2024 to approximately R4.73 billion at the end of March this year.
Dr. Nasiphi Moya delivers her city speech. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)
“We fulfill our commitments, pay service providers more efficiently and restore confidence in the city’s financial credibility.”
However, the DA and the FF Plus say that the so-called funded budget was only funded on paper because Tshwane’s revenue collection has in reality fallen from 93% to 83% since 2024.
Moya’s assumption that Tshwane has a funded budget is therefore based on a revenue progress target of 93% which was not achieved and revenue from a city cleaning levy which was set aside by a court.
“It’s easy to make a budget work on paper, because you adjust your income to your expenses. But in real life, you have to adjust your expenses to your real income,” Theunissen told Maroela Media on Thursday after Moya’s city speech.
Herman Mashaba and Michael Beaumont were there on Thursday when ActionSA’s Nasiphi Moya delivered her city speech. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)
‘Water tanker services reduced’
In her speech, Moya said her government is currently reducing the metro’s reliance on outsourced services and strengthening internal capacity.
“Water tanker services were reduced by 79%, security services by 17% and overall contracted services were reduced by 4.4%.
“These savings are diverted to infrastructure, maintenance and the building of a competent city, because in Tshwane every rand must work and every rand must deliver value,” said Moya.
“However, the truth is that Nasiphi Moya and ActionSA handed over the country’s capital to the water tank mafia, and all her budget and executive decisions flowed from this,” says Brink.
He believes Moya would have been better off if she had used her city speech to acknowledge the recent revelations of systemic corruption in Tshwane, linked to the water tank mafia.
Cilliers Brink during the city speech. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)
“She should have expressed the anger of the people of Hammanskraal – a community that Moya has ignored since she was appointed to her position by an ANC-led coalition. Instead, Moya bravely declared that Tshwane has no water crisis.”
Brink believes there was at least one significant moment in Moya’s speech and that was when she spoke about the closure of brothels and the importance of law enforcement in Tshwane.
“Because after all, she herself leads a lawless government,” says Brink.
“Her second city speech should be her last.”