Tshwane metro executive mayor Nasiphi Moya says her administration is on course to build a capital city that pays its bills, delivers services and puts its people first.
She said the work to turn around the municipality is based on the following principles:
- Financial stability and revenue enhancement;
- Economic revitalisation and investment attraction;
- Infrastructure development and service delivery;
- A safe and clean city;
- Social services and community wellbeing; and
- Strengthening governance and customer care.
In her state of the city address on Thursday, Moya said that when the multiparty coalition comprising the ANC, EFF, ActionSA, AIC, DOP, PA, ATM, PAC, COPE, IFP and GOOD took over, the city was under strain, with weakening systems.
The address took place as the metro’s top officials, including the deputy mayor and finance head, Eugene Modise, and chief financial officer, Gareth Mnisi, had been implicated in tender irregularities. Mnisi, who was implicated in testimony at the Madlanga commission probing criminality in the criminal justice system, was this week placed on precautionary suspension pending the outcome of an investigation.
Moya said when the multiparty coalition took over, the metro was struggling with ballooning debt of more than R13bn, consecutive unfunded budgets, weak financial controls and a breakdown in financial discipline.
“This was not a city on stable ground. From the outset, the focus was on restoring financial discipline, rebuilding credible budgeting, and strengthening internal controls. We delivered a fully funded budget in the 2025/26 financial year, the first funded budget since the 2021/22 annual budget adopted in June 2021,” said Moya, an ActionSA councillor.
We are honouring our commitments, paying service providers more efficiently, and restoring confidence in the city’s financial credibility
— Nasiphi Moya, Tshwane mayor
“Central to this has been the intensification of revenue collection through Tshwane Ya Tima, improved billing accuracy, and began rebuilding trust with residents. Cash-backed reserves have grown from R835m to over R1.9bn, representing growth of about 128%. This momentum continues, with reserves projected to reach R2.86bn by the end of the 2025/26 financial year.”
Tshwane, which has a reputation as a key diplomatic hub with more than 130 embassies and international organisations, contributes 9% of national GDP. The metro is a major motor manufacturing hub with Ford and BMW production plants in the city.
The mayor said the city has worked to reduce historical debt, including Eskom-related debt, which declined from R6.66bn in October 2024 to about R4.73bn at end-March. “We are honouring our commitments, paying service providers more efficiently, and restoring confidence in the city’s financial credibility,” Moya said.
The city has written off more than R4.3bn in customer debt, benefiting more than 85,000 indigent households.
The municipality is reducing reliance on outsourced services and strengthening internal capacity, Moya said, stressing that water tankering has been reduced by 79%, security services by 17%, and overall contracted services by 4.4%.
In 2023/24 the city remained at a qualified audit outcome, with six areas of qualification. In the 2024/25 financial year it again achieved a qualified opinion but with the number of qualification areas reduced to two.
We will leave the City of Tshwane in a better state than we found it. And we have begun to lay the foundation for a city that works
— Moya
“The positive outlook affirmed by Moody’s is a strong signal that Tshwane is on the right path. It confirms that we are restoring credibility and managing public finances with discipline. This strengthens investor confidence, improves access to funding, and reduces the cost of borrowing. It enables the city to expand infrastructure investment and deliver services more reliably,” said Moya.
The Tshwane Economic Revitalisation Strategy adopted in April 2025 is aimed at growing the local economy to an average of 3.9% and creating at least 80,000 new jobs by 2029. “It provides the city with a clear framework to restore investor confidence, improve the ease of doing business, and expand access to economic opportunities,” she said.
“In September 2025 we hosted Tshwane’s inaugural Investment Summit. We set a target of R5bn in new investment. Instead we secured R86bn in investment pledges.
“These pledges are linked to 22 projects across key sectors of our economy, including construction, automotive manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, tourism and logistics. They include over R16bn in property and development projects, as well as about R70bn in large-scale energy and infrastructure investments that will strengthen the long-term capacity of our city.”
Moya said already more than R200m of the investment has begun to flow into Tshwane. “This momentum is also reflected in the city’s verified investment pipeline, which has grown from R1.4bn to almost R12bn in one year.”
The mayor said her administration is rebuilding a culture of service in the institution, grounded in accountability, pride and responsibility. “That is how we will leave the City of Tshwane: in a better state than we found it. And we have begun to lay the foundation for a city that works.”
However, DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said Moya should have used her speech to acknowledge recent revelations of “systemic corruption in Tshwane linked to the water-tanker mafia”.
“She ought to have spoken to the anger of the people of Hammanskraal, a community that Moya has ignored since being installed in her position by an ANC-led coalition.
“Instead, Moya boldly declared that Tshwane has no water crisis. Yet under her watch water losses increased to 41%, leading to more water outages and the worsening of water outages in communities across the city,” Brink said.
“Moya seems unable to make the connection between dry taps and her government’s decision to increase water-tanker spending from R140m in 2024 to R777m in 2025. This is money that could have been spent on infrastructure upgrades that give people water in their taps.”
He said several ANC politicians benefit from the R777m water tanker “bonanza”, including ANC Tshwane regional treasurer James Shelenge and ANC deputy mayor Eugene Modise.
Brink said Moya’s second address “should be her last”.
Update: April 16, 2026 This article has been updated with comment from DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink.
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