POLITRICKING | ‘We must be able to drink that water ourselves’: Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya talks Hammanskraal and coalitions

"The trick here is not to mess it up."

Simple words from a mayor who’s fresh on the job, with service delivery top of mind.

But for Dr Nasiphi Moya, it’s not that simple. Hers is a tenuous rise, being Tshwane’s latest mayor, who was elected on the back of a new working relationship between her party, ActionSA, and its new partners, the African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

Moya takes on the role amid concerns about the financial well-being of the capital city, and complaints from some pockets of the city of having been forgotten by the previous Democratic Alliance (DA)-led coalition, which she served as deputy mayor.

She’s the fourth councillor elected to the position since the 2021 elections, and while she’s upbeat, there is simply no guarantee she will remain in office until the next round of municipal polls in 2026.

Moya is polite, young, dynamic, and by all accounts an authentic leader.

She joined the Politricking with Tshidi Madia podcast this week, reflecting on the evolution of her roles in the capital, her vision, and being part of an ActionSA seeking to re-imagine its role in the country’s politics.

To some, her optimism about working with the ANC and the EFF might be owed to the newness of the relationship, but Moya, who has served the city in different capacities, says it's due to having built relationships with the different parties that has allowed for the current transition to feel smooth.

"I find their ideas quite refreshing, and you can tell it's institutionalised on their part, and also they have presence on the ground, so the way you deal with service delivery is not haphazard," she said.

But Moya admitted she struggled to process the change of tack from her party, which has largely been known as a project aimed at destroying the ANC.

The mayor said she saw the signs of ActionSA drawing nearer to the ANC in Johannesburg, which saw her questioning whether politics was for her. Moya said it was colleagues in the green party, established by businessman Herman Mashaba, and the guidance of their national chairperson Micheal Beaumont, that made her accept a dire need for a change in strategy.

"We found ourselves in an environment that was changing, and the question was, are we going to stick to what we said earlier, even if it got us 1%? Or [are] we just going to look at other alternative ways, where we can still deliver services as we had always hoped, and find other partners?" she questioned.

Moya also pointed to being isolated by the DA, a coalition partner in Tshwane, on some government programmes, constant attacks that members of the DA caucus levelled against Mashaba on public platforms, and a realisation that the DA was holding talks with the ANC, with the possibility of dumping their party, as clear signs that their relationship was souring.

"We have a manifesto which we were campaigning on in 2021. We are not happy with the progress on that manifesto - the city has not started with insourcing, the city has not started with inner-city rejuvenation, we’ve not started with expropriating buildings for student accommodation, Mamelodi flood victims have not been relocated. I see there’s progress with Hammanskraal water and you keep delaying… There are things that we are just not happy about," said Moya, adding that Mashaba flagged these things about the partnership with the blue party when ActionSA decided to part ways with the DA.

Moya, like many of her predecessors, has inherited the undrinkable waters of Hammanskraal, a challenge that’s faced several administrations, including the ANC, which lost power in the 2016 elections.

She insisted while the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant continued to face challenges, residents in the township north of the city would have safe drinking water before the end of the year.

"We don’t want people to start drinking the water while purification is not done," she explained.

Moya said plans to have water running by September were hit by several setbacks, but insisted that by the end of this month, there would be running water - in fact, she said, by the end of the week.

"I have said, can we not politic about this one. The minute wrong information gets to residents, we will be sitting with something like cholera again - we can’t afford that," she said.

"The day we launch, we must be able to drink that water ourselves before giving it to residents," she added.

Moya has an ambitious 100-day plan consisting of six priorities aimed at turning around the fortunes of the capital city. It includes tabling a fully funded budget by March next year.