DA’s Cilliers Brink tipped to be the next Tshwane mayor

The DA in Gauteng has announced it is backing its national spokesperson, Cilliers Brink, for the position of mayor in Tshwane.

Brink is said to have been endorsed by the multiparty coalition partners, who hope to have him elected at the first available opportunity.

The metro has been without a political leadership since the dramatic exit of former mayor Randall Williams and his mayoral committee last week.

Williams plunged the city into chaos after he submitted two different letters of resignation. The first said he would resign with immediate effect and the second one said his resignation would take effect on February 28.

In the absence of a mayor and a mayoral committee, the law allows the city manager to take over decision-making.

A legal opinion sought by the council on Monday said Williams’s first resignation was binding, allowing it to elect a new leadership as soon as possible.

The resignation comes after the DA-led multiparty coalition — which included ActionSA, the ACDP, IFP, COPE and Freedom Front Plus — issued a joint statement in August 2022 that they had agreed to an independent investigation after allegations that Williams interfered in a R26bn energy investment proposal for the metro. The unsolicited bid was for refurbishing the city-owned Rooiwal and Pretoria West power stations.

Randall also came under heavy criticism after auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke’s report on the metro’s 2021/2022 financial year said it did not have adequate systems for identifying and disclosing all irregular expenditure, which the metro put at more than R10.4bn.

DA Gauteng chair Solly Msimanga admitted that the incoming mayor faces a “daunting task ahead”.

“The combination of lockdown, the period of unlawful ANC administration, poor financial decisions and prolonged stage 6 load-shedding has had a devastating impact on Tshwane’s finances,” said Msimanga.

The provincial leader also alleged that the coalition was “under constant attack from the ANC and EFF”, which required “sustained effort to hold the coalition parties together”.

He said Brink was the best person for the job and could execute it with distinction.

The ANC, EFF and ActionSA blame the DA for bringing the city to its knees with poor financial management, including an allegation that R10bn cannot be accounted for under the current administration.

Brink, a University of Pretoria law graduate, is no stranger to the municipality, having served as a councillor in 2011 and group corporate and shared services MMC from 2016 to 2019.

Brink then moved to parliament and represented the official opposition party as national spokesperson and as co-operative governance & traditional affairs portfolio committee member.

Msimanga described Brink as “an expert on local government”. “He understands the laws and regulations that have bearing on municipal finances, and the importance of making a success of the one multiparty coalition in Gauteng that enjoys a majority in the municipal council.

“He is a resident of Tshwane, the place he and his wife have chosen to raise their children. Most importantly, he cares deeply about building a capital city that works for all its people.”

However, it appears that coalition partner ActionSA will not be pleased with Brink’s candidacy, having expressed uncertainty last week when his name was raised as a potential candidate.

ActionSA national chair Michael Beaumont felt that Brink has a controversial history with the municipality and that this was a demonstration of the untenable position the DA found itself in.

“The names we hear being mentioned concern us greatly. Imagine a guy like Brink, who has been the DA’s point person attacking coalition partners, now being put in charge of leading a coalition. It spells disaster.”

Speaker Murunwa Makwarela told the media on Tuesday that in the absence of a mayoral committee and mayor, any delays would have adverse effects on important reports that needed to be tabled before council. Makwarela said his office would push for a new council date to elect a new mayor soon.

Nkhetheni Muthavhi, regional chair of the SA Municipal Workers’ Union, the country’s largest worker representative in the local government sector, called on parties in the council to “put aside their political differences and put the city first by electing a mayor who, working with the new executive, will bring much-needed financial stability and resuscitate service delivery that will benefit all residents indiscriminately.”