The DA in Tshwane has opened criminal cases against ANC councillors following a wave of allegations that municipal job opportunities are being weaponised as political currency.

According to DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink, residents from across the municipality have accused ANC officials of reserving jobs for cadres, trading employment for votes and rewarding campaign loyalists.

Speaking outside the police station on Thursday, Brink declared that corruption is far from a victimless crime, particularly when politicians interfere with public access to employment.

"Across Tshwane, too many residents have come to accept that getting work means knowing the ward councillor or belonging to the ANC," Brink stated.

He said this was illegal, as the party was joined by community members from Pretoria West, Soshanguve, Mamelodi, Atteridgeville, and the Pretoria CBD who came forward to expose how job opportunities are allegedly being gatekept.

He said following community protests demanding transparency on local development projects, information surfaced in ward 81, Pretoria CBD that the brother of ANC ward councillor Mpho Lewele was allegedly appointed as a community liaison officer.

ANC councillor Mpati Ramphile in ward 60, Pretoria West faces accusations from residents and his own ANC branch secretary for excluding local community members and packing projects with handpicked loyalists.

Brink said ANC councillor Bongani Masina of ward 27, Soshanguve stands accused of extorting a local business for monthly payments tied to an Expanded Public Works Programme subcontract.

An official extortion case has been opened with the South African Police Service (SAPS).

He explained that the DA's ward councillor candidate in Mamelodi, MaTshwane, submitted allegations detailing how she was denied employment specifically because she did not hold an ANC membership card.

Brink highlighted that the DA in ward 21 and 71, in Mabopane and Atteridgeville respectively, submitted formal affidavits and voice recordings implicating ANC ward councillors Phumzile Mbokane and Mmakgoko Phasha in similar corrupt hiring practices.

The DA assisted affected residents in compiling these allegations into official affidavits, which have now been handed over to SAPS for criminal investigation.