Dear Ekurhuleni Residents,

On the afternoon of the 8th of November 2022, a majority of 124 councillors (out of 224), voted to reinstate me as Mayor.  We got back to work immediately in order to address the legacy of 21-years of corruption, mismanagement and cadre deployment in our city.

Unsurprisingly, the ANC tried to stop us when they voted our coalition government out of office on 26 October 2022 in order to reinstate a coalition of corruption, but failed at the final hurdle.

This will come as a relief to the 62% of the Ekurhuleni residents who voted against the ANC on 1 November last year.

But it is important to realise that seven of the smallest parties, who campaigned against the ANC, ended up supporting the ANC in the motion of no confidence against me.  They again voted for the unsuccessful ANC candidate in the Mayoral election yesterday.

The small parties that told us directly they would vote for the ANC include IRASA, the UDM, the PAC, the ATM, and others. The lesson is once again clear:  there are many small parties that campaign against the ANC, only to prop up the ANC after the election.

Their political games have come at a huge cost to the Metro. The ANC and its partners have caused serious financial instability and stalled service delivery in these last two weeks. Back-room horse­-trading over positions and perks took priority with the ANC

Now that our coalition has stopped the ANC and its partners in their tracks, it is back to work in service of the residents of our metro. Our priorities were clearly reflected in our budget – getting the basics right so service delivery improves.

Resolving waste removal issues and stabilizing the energy grid remain our most urgent priorities. In just two weeks without the coalition at the helm, service delivery has visibly deteriorated.  It is now essential for the political games to end, so that we can get on with the work of undoing 22 years of ANC mismanagement.

I would like to thank our loyal partners to the DA for holding firm and voting me back into office, specifically the ACDP, FF-Plus and the IFP who refused to make any deals with the ANC. I would also like to acknowledge ActionSA.  Although they announced that they were no longer part of the coalition when our government fell, they returned in the end.

In the last 10 months, our government has opened a Skills Centre in Vosloorus; Early Childhood Development Centres in Palm Ridge and Katlehong; electrified 1 367 households which previously had no power; installed over 48 water points; cleaned and rehabilitated 112 illegal dumping hotspots, and rehabilitated 48 km of roads.

We have set aside R600-million to stabilize the energy grid to put an end to power outages. These last two weeks without a government has set back our good work.

We will continue to focus on the things that matter – delivering services – rather than playing dirty political games. Our city needs to be saved, and that is our singular mission.

Best Wishes,

Tania Campbell (DA)
Executive Mayor of Ekurhuleni