Tshwane executive mayor Randall Williams has warned his newly appointed members of his mayoral committee (MMCs) not to sleep on the job as he unveiled a team that was drawn from the DA and its coalition partners on Tuesday.
Tshwane was the last of Gauteng’s three metros to finally appoint MMCs after weeks of protracted negotiations between the DA and smaller parties that helped put it in power in the municipalities that were left hung after municipal elections last month.
The parties included ActionSA, FF Plus, ACDP, IFP and COPE, which helped the DA coalition secure a clear majority of 109 seats in the 214-seat council in the capital city.
Williams said he was pleased to finally have a team that he said he hoped would discharge their duties with diligence and commitment to clean governance.
“We will need to hit the ground running as there is much work that needs to be done. Furthermore, I would like to assure our residents that I will hold the team to the highest standards as this administration is truly committed to the principles of clean governance and ensuring quality service delivery,” he said.
ActionSA, which has 19 seats in council, took three MMC posts while the FF Plus secured two from its 17 seats, with the DA taking the rest.
MMC for finance is Peter Sutton from the DA. Human settlements MMC is Abel Tau from ActionSA. He is the party’s regional chairperson and a former acting Tshwane mayor under the DA. Community safety MMC is Grandi Theunissen from the FF Plus, who had been fielded as a mayoral candidate by his party before the polls. Transport MMC is Dikeledi Selowa from the DA, who served in the same post before the municipal elections.
Andre le Roux from ActionSA got the nod for economic development and spatial planning, while health will be headed by Catharina Marx from the FF Plus.
Social development and community services went to Peggy de Bruin from ActionSA, corporate and shared services to Kingsley Wakelin from the DA and utility services to Phillip Nel from the DA. Nel had also served in the same post in the previous administration.
There has, however, been no appointment for the 10th MMC post, for agriculture and environment, with Williams saying the appointment would be finalised next year.
With more than a year at the helm of the city, Williams and his administration had been accused over the past year of having failed to deal with the water crisis that has ravage the city, forcing residents of Hammanskraal to depend on water tanks as no drinkable water came out of their taps for months.
The city has also, like the Joburg and Ekurhuleni metros, been plagued by power cuts and poor electricity supply.
Williams said many of the service delivery problems in the metro would be resolved under the new administration.
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