Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Tshwane multiparty coalition government is committed to putting the interests of Tshwane residents ahead of its political differences, writes Randall Williams.
It is now nearly six months since our multiparty coalition government was established to collectively take the reins in the City of Tshwane. This coalition was necessitated by the results of the 2021 Local Government Elections, which placed a significant responsibility on us to form a stable coalition government to drive service delivery and stabilise the City’s precarious financial position.
At the time of forming this coalition government in December 2021, I had already been in office for over a year. This gave me an advantage as I was fully aware of the challenges that face the City and what path we needed to take to ensure quality service delivery for Tshwane residents. It was very important that we find coalition partners with shared service delivery values, so we came together as the Democratic Alliance, ActionSA, Freedom Front Plus, African Christian Democratic Party, Inkatha Freedom Party and Congress of the People (COPE), and we were later joined by the Patriotic Alliance. Jointly, we formed a majority coalition government to run the City of Tshwane.
We began our journey by committing to constructive relations where we put the interests of Tshwane residents ahead of our political differences. We also worked as a team to bring our different manifesto priorities together to create one strategic document that we could unite behind.
Solid voting block So far, we have managed to bring stability to Council, and politically we have become a strong and solid voting block in Council. Working together, we successfully elected competent chairpersons of Section 79 committees and our new Speaker of Council, Cllr Murunwa Makwarela from COPE, an indication that all partners in this coalition are valued and treated with due respect.
While we may differ on some issues, it is important for the coalition that we manage such matters in a responsible manner that does not risk or threaten our coalition government. A stable coalition is key to govern the City of Tshwane effectively. This is a core principle that all of our coalition partners value because it is so important to ensure proper and sound governance. If Council works, then the City works.
Of course, there will be occasions when we engage in robust discussions, especially with opposition parties who are often seeking ways to disrupt the work of Council. However, as the coalition we are always pushing ahead to ensure that the work of Council gets done, no matter how late the meeting goes or what disruptions we encounter.READ | OPINION: Colleen Makhubele – City of Joburg’s multiparty government sets example for coalitionsPolitics aside, our team of MMCs have hit the ground running to ensure that we start the work to deliver on our promises. Recently, we witnessed how the Economic Freedom Fighters disrupted the Budget Speech, likely with the intention of trying to prevent us from passing a budget for the City. However, they failed because as the coalition we came together as one unit to ensure that we maintain our programme of governance, which is why we ensured that we approve our budget for the upcoming 2022/23 financial year. The passing of the budget is an important victory for Tshwane residents as it funds the plans we intend to roll out from 1 July 2022.
Our coalition government tabled a budget of R44,9 billion, consisting of an operating budget of R42,1 billion and a capital infrastructure investment budget of R2,8 billion for the 2022/23 financial year.
I strongly believe that this is a sound and well-balanced budget that prioritises core service delivery and critical infrastructure investment.
The reality we are faced with is that both our electricity and water infrastructure are ageing rapidly. This often results in frequent power outages and high levels of water losses. In addressing this challenge, we have ensured that we allocate about R1,2 billion of the capital budget towards the prioritisation of the electrical grid and water infrastructure in the Tshwane.
Prioritised service delivery Furthermore, we have also prioritised everyday basic services, such as maintaining street lights, patching potholes and fixing water leaks. The department responsible for driving these services, the Regional Operations and Coordination Department, has been allocated R3,7 billion. There are many other budget highlights as we seek to re-establish a relationship of trust with Tshwane residents. READ | ANALYSIS: Daniel Silke – Rare opportunity for opposition to show vision of non-ANC govtHaving gone through a public consultation process for the Integrated Development Plan and the budget, it became clear to us that there are a great deal of service delivery demands that arise within our communities. We also used the inputs and concerns that were raised through our various social media platforms. We acknowledge these concerns and we are committed to addressing our service delivery shortfalls. This is why our public participation process is so important because we can use these inputs to shape how we prioritise and push funding towards the areas and programmes that Tshwane residents actually want and need.
Running a large metro like the City of Tshwane is no easy task, but I truly believe that our multiparty coalition government team is fit for purpose and will push ahead together to ensure that we improve the lives of Tshwane residents.
– Randall Williams is the Executive Mayor of Tshwane.To receive Opinions Weekly, sign up for the newsletter here.*Want to respond to the columnist? Send your letter or article to [email protected] with your name and town or province. You are welcome to also send a profile picture. We encourage a diversity of voices and views in our readers’ submissions and reserve the right not to publish any and all submissions received.Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.
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