ActionSA praises Moya’s work in Tshwane but others point out stagnant service delivery

While ActionSA has been full of praise about the progress made in the City of Tshwane under Mayor Nasiphi Moya, other parties say service delivery has not improved in the metro.

ActionSA chairperson Michael Beaumont said the party’s visit to the City of Tshwane with Moya confirmed that Tshwane was moving forward.

ActionSA says Tshwane is making progress

Beaumont visited sites across Tshwane, including Rietgat Sewage Treatment Works, Makhaza Sports Ground and Soshanguve Reservoir, where he said the city has made some progress in fixing water leaks and curbing illegal dumping.

“It is pleasing that Dr Nasiphi Moya, and her team, continue to tackle the difficult work with the humility of knowing how much more needs to be done,” he said.

ALSO READ: Chaos erupts in Tshwane council as budget sparks corruption allegations

Beaumont said although Moya has made considerable progress, ActionSA is aware of the mountainous backlogs of service delivery that still need to be addressed.

Service delivery still poor in some areas

However, opposition councillors did not share the same optimism regarding service delivery in Tshwane.

DA councillor Shaun Wilkinson described his ward, which includes Waterkloof, as one of the suburbs that pays the most in rates and taxes in the City of Tshwane, but has the worst service delivery.

“The corner of Main and Fehrsen Street in Waterkloof is worse than the road that exploded in Johannesburg,” he said.

ALSO READ: Hammanskraal water woes persist despite partial improvements

Another DA councillor, Jacqui Uys, said she had many complaints of water leaks in her area in Pretoria East, including an underground water leak near Lynwood Ridge Primary School that had been left unattended for nearly four weeks.

“The province is struggling with the availability of clean drinking water and the City of Tshwane leaves water leaks for weeks and months. In Stellenberg Road, a leak has been there since last October while one in Rossouw Street was reported almost six weeks ago,” she said.

Watch: Massive sinkhole in Centurion

Uys said once a leak is fixed the surface is not repaired and often roads are left undrivable and residents cannot access their properties.

‘ActionSA’s naivete exposed’

Republican Conference of Tshwane councillor Lex Middelberg said while the new government was at least on the right track to fix the city’s many problems, there is no change in the city since Moya took over.

“Nothing underlines the new government’s biggest issues as the mid-year finance report and the claims on the back thereof of a much-improved financial situation. The claim of an improved income stream of about R400 million at the mid-year mark is simply a function of the year’s higher rates and tariffs.

“The real question is how much does this figure exceed municipal consumer price index (CPI)? The answer is it does not when this year is compared to last year, with CPI adjusted there is no real difference between the years,” he said.

“They also claim to have spent less by nearly R3 billion compared to the year before – as if that is a particularly good thing. Yet nothing exposes their naivete more than that claim. A public entity is not a profit-making business, it budgets to render services to its community and raises rates and tariffs to meet that budget,” he said.

Middelberg said budgeting more than is needed places an unnecessary burden on ratepayers and it then seems that the city’s leaders don’t understand public finance.

“The alternative is even worse, if you spend less, the government is not rendering the budgeted services and neglecting the city’s upkeep. Judging by the lack of upkeep over the last six months, this seems to be the more likely scenario,” he said.

NOW READ: Sinkholes and fallen trees cause havoc in Tshwane