Mayor Nasiphi Moya is confronting intense political backlash as coalition partners and opposition parties demand answers over the City of Tshwane’s controversial spending on water tankers. The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party and the Democratic Alliance (DA) have both launched separate efforts to hold the city accountable for the R777 million expenditure....Click to Read More >>➤
MK party spokesperson Abel Tau publicly dismissed Mayor Moya’s explanations. He stated the party firmly rejects the mayor’s attempt to justify the massive spending. “She cannot allow that more than double is being spent on water tankers,” Tau asserted. He indicated the party suspects severe financial misconduct is behind the city’s water tanker scandal.
Allegations of Grand-Scale Looting
Tau did not mince words regarding the party’s suspicions. He said the MK believes the situation points to looting on a grand scale. The party is preparing to take formal action to address its concerns. “We will approach the public protector and mobilise the community to push for accountability over the money spent on water tankers,” Tau confirmed. This sets the stage for a potential public and legal confrontation over the city’s finances.
The political pressure is not isolated to the MK party. The official opposition has also taken significant steps. DA mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink announced his party has filed a formal complaint with the public protector. They are requesting an investigation into whether the city paid unverified water tanker invoices. This move escalates the financial controversy into a potential legal matter.
Unverified Invoices and Missing Purchase Orders
Brink criticized Mayor Moya’s public response to the allegations. He noted that the mayor did not outright deny the excessive spending. Instead, she reportedly attributed part of the financial burden to obligations from previous administrations. Brink questioned the logic and legality of this defense.
“Moya wants us to believe that on taking office the ANC-EFF-ActionSA coalition discovered water tanker invoices from previous years, which they paid,” Brink stated. He then raised a critical procedural question: “Did the city have purchase orders confirming the services were required by the city and delivered by service providers before making payments?”
The DA candidate provided a specific financial discrepancy that deepens the scandal. He revealed that a source with access to the city’s records found a major gap in documentation. According to this information, the city only has formal purchase orders for R381 million of the total R777 million spent. This suggests that nearly R400 million was paid out without the standard procurement paperwork, a serious breach of municipal financial controls.
The emerging details surrounding the city’s water tanker scandal point to a severe breakdown in oversight. The lack of purchase orders for such a significant portion of the funds raises red flags about financial governance. As both the MK party and the DA push for independent investigations, the administration faces a crisis of credibility. The public will be watching closely as the public protector considers these requests to probe the controversial payments. ...Click to Read More >>➤
