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Today I wrote to the City Manager of Tshwane, Mr Johann Mettler, demanding urgent measures to safeguard the city’s critical infrastructure against criminal attack following the termination of security at all of the city's infrastructure sites, including power stations.

These contracts lapsed on 1 October without replacement agreements or contingency arrangements apparently in place. Letters confirming their termination are already circulating on WhatsApp groups, making the security vacuum public knowledge.

This comes after the catastrophic power failure suffered by Tshwane over the past week, with residents and businesses enduring prolonged outages following damage to the Njala infeed station.
This is a self-created emergency. The expiry of a contract is a known date, not an unexpected event. Mayor Nasiphi Moya must explain why her administration failed to prepare, leaving critical infrastructure exposed when the city can least afford another disaster.

The DA does not oppose ending expired contracts, especially those irregularly extended before. We oppose allowing them to expire without securing the infrastructure they were meant to protect.
During my tenure as Executive Mayor, I repeatedly warned that failure to develop a new procurement model would leave Tshwane under pressure to renew the contracts of existing security companies. The Mayoral Committee therefore resolved to partner with the University of Pretoria to devise a new model.

One of the companies that has benefited from the failure to put a new security contract in place is Triotic Protection Services, which belongs to Deputy Mayor and MMC for Finance Eugene Modise. 

As I repeatedly warned, failure to plan leaves the City under pressure to extend the contracts of existing providers, including the Deputy Mayor’s own company. This gives us reason to suspect improper political interference, and Moya must explain why the procurement reform initiated under my administration was not carried through.

Moya must stop protecting Modise from scrutiny and start protecting the city she was appointed to lead. Her failure of leadership leaves residents carrying the risk while questions about her deputy’s business interests remain unanswered.

The DA has asked private security companies and neighbourhood watches to patrol around critical installations, as they did free of charge during the prolonged unprotected strike in 2023. But residents and volunteers cannot carry the municipality’s responsibility for securing its infrastructure.

The City Manager must act immediately to secure these sites. This self-created emergency must not become an excuse to hand the same providers another extension without proper scrutiny.

Tshwane cannot afford another catastrophic infrastructure failure because its leadership failed to plan. Moya owes residents an immediate account of which sites are guarded, what contingency arrangements are in place, and how her administration will close this security vacuum.

Issued by DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Ald Cilliers Brink