Where is the ANC Tshwane Mayoral Candidate?

19 June 2016

The ANC last night failed to announce a mayoral candidate for Tshwane, which is the surest sign yet that the ANC is deeply internally divided in Tshwane and paralyzed by factionalism. 

That Mayor Sputla Ramokgopa was not the ANC’s clear choice to run for the Mayor's Office, and that information points to the ANC considering deploying a heavyweight from Parliament to run for mayor, shows that the ANC fears it will lose Tshwane in this election.

This follows the release of independent IPSOS polling this week which revealed that the DA can win Tshwane, and that only the DA can unseat the ANC in Tshwane.

Considering that Mayor Ramokgopa failed to get the nod, and that the selection process has not been finalised, it is clear that the ANC is heavily divided. This confirms the sentiment expressed earlier this week by SACP provincial secretary, Jacob Mamabolo, who described Tshwane as the “one city where we see the most vicious alliance fights in the province, even within the ANC.”

The people of Tshwane deserve better than a divided and broken party governing the City. As ANC factionalism and infighting continues, the people of Tshwane are suffering. 

Under the ANC, key indicators in Tshwane point to a City in decline:

Unemployment is up from 24.2% in the 2011 Census, to 26% in the latest quarterly labour force survey. In total 517,000 people in Tshwane do not have jobs or have given up looking.

For the past five years, Tshwane has not received a clean audit. Last year R1,886,200,000 was lost to financial misconduct according to Auditor General through unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

According to the Non-financial Census of Municipalities, Tshwane has more people than any other metro that have to go more than 200m to reach a water point with 113,212 consumer units receiving water provision at a distance – for the DA-run Cape Town, that number is zero.

According to the General Household Survey, Tshwane has the lowest percentage of households with access to a basic sanitation facility at 82% in comparison to 91.4% in Cape Town.

The DA is ready to govern Tshwane, and in is election the DA can win Tshwane to cut corruption, deliver better services and to create jobs.

Statement issued by Solly Msimanga, DA Mayoral Candidate for Tshwane, 19 June 2016