Says in his acceptance speech that he will be willing to work with any other party that shares the DA’s values.
Cilliers Brink will be the DA’s Tshwane mayoral candidate in the 2026 municipal elections.
The DA held an announcement event in the city on Friday, where party leader John Steenhuisen made the decision official.
In accepting, Brink takes on the challenge of regaining the seat he lost in 2024 due to a motion of no confidence.
DA backs Brink
Brink’s acceptance speech promised a focus on crime, service delivery, infrastructure development and jobs.
The DA led a coalition after the 2021 municipal election and in his acceptance speech, Brink listed a host of successes achieved during his tenure, before the party was “betrayed” by its coalition partners.
Brink blamed the ANC for making the metro “ungovernable” following its initial loss of majority power in 2016, saddling his coalition government with financial obstacles.
“The DA has done our best to expose what is happening in Tshwane, to hold the ANC coalition and its sidecar mayor to account,” said Brink, taking a swipe at his successor.
Brink’s candidacy announcement will place him on a collision course with the party that helped remove him last year, with further “coalition chaos” a possibility.
“Of course, we will take hands to work with other parties who share our values, but what this city now needs more than anything else is strong leadership,” Brink said.
ANC-ActionSA cooperation
The ANC and ActionSA combined to remove Brink and elect ActionSA’s Nasiphi Moya as his replacement.
The ANC-ActionSA partnership appeared to take a hit after the speaker of the Johannesburg city council was removed by a motion of no confidence on the same day the coalition defended the city’s mayor.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba seemed unfazed by the outcome, saying he was happy to return to the opposition benches.
“They thought that they are punishing us by taking the speaker’s position, but I can tell you now that we are relieved.
“We will operate as an effective opposition with no strings attached,” Mashaba told The Citizen at the time.