By Akani Nkuna
The DA has nominated former City of Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink as its Mayoral Candidate for the 2026 Local Government Elections.
Brink said the nomination gives him an opportunity to redeem himself and continue the work he began during his first tenure.
Speaking at the Barnyard Theatre in Menlyn, Pretoria, on Friday, Brink was unveiled by DA Federal Leader John Steenhuisen as the party’s Tshwane candidate.
He pledged to root out corruption in the city and ensure the completion of projects that were initiated under his previous administration but left unfinished.
“We want to be clear about what we did in Tshwane,” said Brink.
“It was tragically interrupted and now against appointing a competent administration embarking upon energy independence making sure we get private investment expertise into the city to draw jobs and investment.”
He added: “Those things we started and the work is not finished. That is the first crucial message. We will continue our role in opposition to stop the ANC-coalition from trying to get rid Johann Mettler instead of getting them fired.”
During his first term as Tshwane mayor, Brink was frequently accused of neglecting townships such as Soshanguve, Mamelodi, and Mabopane in favour of directing services to more affluent suburbs across the metro.
He dismissed those criticisms, insisting that the bulk of the city’s budget during his tenure was allocated to townships.
Brink argued that his administration made a deliberate effort to extend services to all communities, with particular emphasis on areas where the DA did not enjoy strong electoral support.
“As soon as I was elected I made it point of going to townships first, going to places where the DA did not necessary won a majority to show that we are a government for all of the people. You can look at the capital budget the majority was spent in townships, not in suburbs,” Brink said.
In his nomination acceptance speech, Brink accused the current administration of abandoning plans to partner with the private sector, which he said could have driven service delivery efforts.
He also argued that the recent increase in wheeling tariffs has discouraged investment in alternative energy.
“In their first adjustment budget, the ANC coalition defunded water and electricity teams to increase spending on water tanker contracts by 64% and security companies by 103%. The ANC deputy mayor Bonzo Modise has an interest in one of those companies which we believe he did not declare and did not divest,” he added.
Meanwhile, Steenhuisen appealed to Tshwane residents to help the DA regain an outright majority in the metro, arguing that coalition politics had derailed service delivery.
“The residents of Tshwane need to come out and strengthen the DA’s hand. The DA in this city has to be the biggest party by a long way, beating coalitions. If you are not going to give us an outright majority, then at least make us strong enough so we don’t have to make deals with ActionSA,” Steenhuisen said.
The Federal Leader warned that the city’s mounting debt—driven, he claimed, by the current administration’s failure to collect revenue—was unsustainable. He stressed the need for urgent leadership change to avert further decline.
“[The current administration] can’t even get the basics right: running water, proper procurement, or maintaining public spaces. Instead of fixing parks or ensuring water flows from taps, they feed tender mafias and comrades,” he charged.
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