‘DA Lying for Cheap Political Gain’ – ActionSA

The recent water tanker expenditure scandal that has rocked the City of Tshwane has seen the Democratic Alliance (DA) face counter-allegations that they actively collaborated with municipal officials to manipulate figures and manufacture a R777-million’ to undermine the current administration.

This current controversy is viewed as a textbook example of the DA’s pre-election strategy, which involves using high-profile, dollar-value scandals as a potent campaign tool to capture headlines and undermine opponents ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections.

Two weeks ago, the DA targeted Tshwane deputy mayor, Eugene Modise, in a security tender scandal exposé, accusing the incumbent of benefiting from a security tender the city awarded to Triotic Protection Services - a company he allegedly still holds shares in.

This new water tanker controversy now stems from a DA report alleging that the water tanker expenditure and water losses have skyrocketed under the current ANC-led coalition, particularly since Mayor Dr Drasiphi Moya took office. ActionSA has moved to vehemently defend the administration, accusing the DA of propagating “deliberate political lies” and orchestrating a deceptive smear campaign.

ActionSA spokesperson Michael Beau Mont didn’t mince words, stating the DA has been “caught working with municipal officials to manipulate figures to smear the ANC-led coalition while hiding its own disastrous record.” The core of the alleged manipulation revolves around the widely reported R777 million figure, which Moya directly rejected, clarifying that the number is derived from a system extract showing total purchase orders, including R156 million in transactions that were cancelled, duplicated, or unprocessed.

Moya stressed that this figure represents procurement activity, not actual expenditure, which she stated is R441-million. The mayor and her allies further allege the DA deliberately inflated the expenditure to hide its own legacy of unpaid bills.

While the DA’s Cilliers Brink initially compared the two administrations, claiming the DA-led government’s expenditure was R410-million - including unpaid invoices - ActionSA and Moya rebutted, stating that Brink “failed to pay R179-million in tanker invoices during his term,” leaving the debt for the new administration to clean up.

When these old, unpaid bills were finally settled in 2025, they were recorded in the new financial year, creating the very “false impression of a spike in spending” the DA is now leveraging for political gain. By including the R179-million in settled old debt in the current books and simultaneously relying on the inflated R777-million procurement figure, the DA is accused of crafting a politically motivated illusion of runaway spending as part of its strategic communication offensive.

While the political figures battle over ledger entries, the city’s water crisis deepens with the DA claiming the emergency is “self-induced,” pointing to water losses increasing from 34% to 39% under the current regime. ActionSA’s Beaumont, however, threw the blame back at the previous administration. He argues that the rise in tanker use “mirrors the rise in outages caused by years of under-investment, failing reservoirs and neglected maintenance that all occurred on their watch.”

The current administration, facing a R58-billion infrastructure need over the next decade, claims it is taking corrective action, investing R10-million in boreholes and permanent communal taps to reduce reliance on the costly tanker system.

With demands for a full financial audit now on the table, the political fight will determine whether the DA is willing to endorse a comprehensive financial review or risk appearing to prioritise election-focused political attacks over genuine accountability.