Former mayor Cilliers Brink vows to restore Tshwane in five years, citing private investment in power stations and opposition to ANC policies.
Former City of Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink “needs five years to turn around Tshwane” after being announced as the DA’s mayoral candidate for Tshwane.
Brink said voters can bring him back in the 2026 local government elections.
“The last time the voters spoke was in 2021.” He was confident he would be re-elected, adding ActionSA has not only lost a lot of support, but was also afraid to face the voters.
Brink confident he will be re-elected
“The city is either going to be run by an ANC coalition or a DA coalition – as simple as that. Everything in between tends towards the ANC.”
The ANC, which was the puppet master behind the scenes, wanted to take control of the Tshwane administration and replace city manager Johann Mettler with deployed cadres and continue the project of looting.
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“We identified what the city has that’s costing it money that can be made available for private investment. The power stations were the obvious ones. Under our administration during the 18 months, we leased those power stations to the private sector for a period of 40 years.
“That would enable independent power producers to get Rooiwal power station up and running again, or put up solar panels at the Pretoria West power station,” he said.
His administration also budgeted R50 million to appoint a transactional advisor, which was not spent, and the project around the power stations has since fallen by the wayside.
Tshwane mayor and coalition didn’t bring anything new
“I would love for the ANC-led coalition to take our programme of action and implement it.”
Brink said the mayor and coalition didn’t bring anything new, except a cleansing levy.
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“What enabled the payment arrangement with Eskom was the fact that the city said no to a R600-million salary increase. It was a tough decision which led to a strike, but we stood our ground and went to court.
“The ANC didn’t withdraw the case and they also didn’t pay the salary increase. Why? Because the city can’t afford it.”
Places such as the Village in Brooklyn represented where the city could go, Brink said.
The Village
“The Village is a nice place and this city needs nice things. The Village is always pumping and diverse. The investment that has gone in here, fixing roads and restaurants – this is what our city should aspire to. I want more of this for our residents.”
Brink points to a restaurant Tshwane MMC for environment Obakeng Ramabodu shut down, claiming they didn’t have a licence.
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“That’s the spiel of this ANC coalition: they constantly talk about how much they want to close down foreign businesses, but they are closing down South African businesses.
“I am here to support wonderful South African businesses,” he said.
“I don’t think there is an idea on where to take the city. The coalition knows what trends on social media, like foreigners and illegal business.
Decisions based on their next post
“It’s like they make decisions based on their next post and not on the rule of law.
“You can’t talk tough about the rule of law and not check your facts.”
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Brink said his administration was also against Tshwane’s cleansing levy.
“People are already under pressure. It is not a good time to introduce a new tax,” he added.