Mayor Cilliers Brink ready for work ahead in Tshwane

JOHANNESBURG - Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink says he would not trade his job, even for a seat in Parliament.

Brink appears first on the Democratic Alliance's (DA) regional candidates list, and also appears high in third place on the party’s Gauteng list.

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The mayor’s top listings fueled speculation that he might be going to the provincial legislature after the general elections.

However, Brink said he was staying put in the capital city.

It has been one full year since Brink was elected as Tshwane mayor.

During that time, he's had to deal with a deadly cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal, and a three-month labour dispute that at one point threatened to bring the capital city to its knees.

Reflecting on his first year in charge, Brink said it had been exciting and challenging in equal measure.

"So what have we done in the first year? We have taken the first steps towards energy independence, protecting communities against load shedding by getting Pretoria West and Rooiwal power stations in the hands of private operators. We have also made the difficult decisions towards achieving financial recovery including recharging 'Tshwane Ya Tima,' making sure people pay for what they consume and also forgoing salary increases."

On the other side of Gauteng, Sivuyile Ngodwana marked his one year tenure as Ekurhuleni mayor by being removed from office.