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Msimanga has brought about significant positive change to Tshwane

Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga.
Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga.

Last week the ANC in Tshwane held what can only be described as a bizarre and inane media briefing to launch a baseless attack on mayor Solly Msimanga.

In a desperate move to gain relevance after losing control of the city to the Democratic Alliance (DA) at the 2016 local government elections, the ANC will do and say anything to discredit Msimanga.

Now, the ANC has brought a frivolous motion of no confidence in Msimanga, but the facts speak for themselves.

What the ANC conveniently fails to tell the public is that when the DA took the reins in Tshwane, it inherited a R2-billion deficit from the ANC. The city was bankrupt.

In fact, when the DA requested council to approve a move to approach the banks for a loan to help the city, Mapiti Matsena, the ANC's caucus leader, wholeheartedly supported the move and instructed his caucus to vote in favour of the request. This was a tacit admission of guilt by the ANC as they knew they had brought Tshwane to its knees.

One of Msimanga's first actions as mayor was to sell the extravagant mayoral mansion for R5.1-million. He further announced that the proceeds would be used to build 40 low-cost houses.

This is in stark contrast with previous ANC administrations who spent an estimated R12-million on upgrades to these houses which was shamelessly compromising service delivery.

These are some of the cold-hard facts the ANC doesn't want you to know.

In the recent news cycle, much has been made of some appointments in Tshwane. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, the DA has acted on these without haste and we have kept the public in our confidence every step of the way.

Last week, Msimanga requested council to issue the city manager with a notice of intention to suspend pending the outcome of an independent investigation into alleged misconduct related to improperly awarding a tender.

This was supported by the council.

The DA takes all allegations of impropriety, where we are governing, very seriously. We unapologetically believe in putting the people who elected us into office ahead of party interests.

We also believe in the rule of law which is why it is important to grant the city manager a right of reply.

The rest of the media briefing saw the ANC engaging in racial epithets against Msimanga and the DA.

This has for years been the ANC's default position when it runs out of ideas, and we will not be drawn into this.

As the nations' most diverse political party, we will continue with the hard work of building a united South Africa for all despite organisations like the ANC, who seek to mobilise support on sowing racial divisions.

In just a few years in government, Msimanga has brought about significant positive change to Tshwane.

We will continue to bring better services to our residents and this can only occur in an environment of transparency and accountability. 

- Moodey is Gauteng DA leader

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