“Though the city is at a better place now than at the beginning of the year, it might not be at a better place at the end of 2025 compared to 2024, since business leaders still need to be convinced about the ability of the current leadership to remove corrupt officials, improve service delivery and build a culture to do the right thing.”
That is the opinion of Pretoria Sakekamer chairperson, Fergus Ferguson.
Ferguson, as well as other leaders in Pretoria reflected on the performances for the year of the metro, its council and management, with various leaders expressing mixed feelings.
To many role players, the highlights of the metro’s achievements included it an improved audit outcome, as well as a stable credit rating.
Both the auditor-general and the SA Local Government Association recognised the metro’s efforts on these two markers.
Ferguson pointed out that a lot of good happened in the city, with his organisation finding that a solid foundation had been set for the future with a budget geared towards restoring the electricity and water infrastructure of the city, an urban management programme focused on maintenance of the main routes and a solid strategy to stabilise finances.
“Ultimately, Tshwane might at the end of the year be better off than it started,” said Ferguson.
He said the metro’s affairs were however tainted by the controversy of the labour unrest earlier this year.
“Here we saw the leadership of the former mayor, Cilliers Brink, being cool-headed enough to make unpopular decisions to restore service delivery and address corruption and syndicate looting in Tshwane,” said Ferguson.
He said the dynamics of the Government of National Unity and its implications on local level, however became a tool in the hands of politicians who positioned themselves for more support in the name of “democracy”, leading to further polarisation of residents.
Ferguson was relieved that the metro has reached a settlement agreement on the R6.67 billion Eskom debt.
Provided that all current accounts are paid within 30 days, the metro will accordingly settle the outstanding debt over a period of five years, ANC regional secretary George Matjila also feels at the end of the year that “the people of Tshwane are better off on many fronts”.
Matjila said there is good intergovernmental relations between national, provincial and local governments.
“This opens the door for good cooperative governance which provides for assistance which the previous DA-led coalition deliberately ignored,” he said.
Matjila is encouraged that there is, unlike before, a clear project focus in all communities.
“There’s more focus on revenue collection and stabilisation as well,” said Matjila.
Brink, the former mayor and leader of the official opposition in the council, said it was good news that the metro decided not to offer salary increases, and that it has reached a settlement with Eskom on arrears debt.
“This is good news for the city, but it will require more difficult decisions. It would seem that the writing-off of Eskom’s interest on arrears debt is conditional on the city sticking to its payment plan. It will require iron-like financial discipline from the metro. If one Eskom payment is missed, it might mean that the deal is lost, and that all arrears become due and payable immediately,” said Brink.
He said that in 2025, his party will continue to support the difficult measures the former DA-led coalition undertook in government to achieve the metro’s financial rescue.
“It is essential for the metro to continue with the Tshwane ya Tima campaign started by the previous city government to improve billing and collections. Like foregoing salary increases, Tshwane ya Tima is another difficult, but necessary, undertaking to get the metro out of trouble,” he said.
Brink is positive about the fact that Magalies Water has completed the Klipdrift modular treatment plant which will deliver clean water to residents of Hammanskraal and ultimately eliminate the burden of water tankers.
He was disappointed that Herman Mashaba and ActionSA broke their promise to voters and brought down the multi-party coalition.
“Mashaba and company have now placed the whole of Gauteng under ANC control. The EFF, a party that incites hatred, land grabs and general lawlessness is now part of the government. They are in fact the senior political partner of the mayor’s party. Because of this, many of the projects the metro started under the DA’s leadership are now in jeopardy, including efforts to involve private partners in the power stations and the Wonderboom airport.”
Leader of the Freedom Front Plus, Grandi Theunissen, said that to him the year had several highlights like the establishment of a joint operational centre with 107 as a single toll-free emergency number for both the fire brigade and metro police, as well as several successful firefighting operations, including the gas leak in Voortrekkerhoogte where hundreds of police recruits’ lives were in danger.
“We can also look back on the acquisition of 80 additional vehicles for the metro police for more effective service and the restoration of discipline within the metro police’s ranks as a result of the reintroduction of disciplinary processes that had not been applied at all since 2018,” said Theunissen.
He also pointed out the implementation of integrated municipal by-laws unit responsible for the current positive turn which is currently increasingly visible in the public domain and the implementation of two additional mobile alcohol testing centres received as a donation, bringing the total number to three.
Political analyst, dr Theuns Eloff, said the new dispensation at Hammanskraal with more clean water becoming available to residents through the metro’s collaboration with the national Department of Water and Sanitation is definitely a metro highlight.
To him, the change in government from the DA-led coalition to the Action SA-ANC-EFF coalition’s instalment as the new metro government, was a blow to good governance in the metro.
“Mashaba’s desire to make his party more visible and his possible regret of not joining the Government of National Unity, has left the metro in the position of not knowing how the new coalition will shape up, given the ANC’s performance in the metro in the past,” said Eloff.
He emphasised that residents of Tshwane and politicians must now look towards the local elections in 2026 and gear up to put leaders in place that can take the city forward.
The mayor’s office as well as the Capital City Business Chamber were requested for comment but none had been received at the time of publication.
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