LGE 2026: Get to know some of your Tshwane mayoral candidates

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Tshwane is South Africa’s capital city, but years of coalition instability, failing infrastructure and financial pressure have left residents demanding answers.

As parties battle for control of the City of Tshwane, five mayoral candidates are making their case to voters. Here’s what they’re promising and the challenges they face.

The ANC has not named its Tshwane mayoral candidate for the 4 November elections. The candidates that made the party’s shortlist in August include:1. Kgosi Maepa, former African National Congress (ANC) Tshwane Regional Chairperson and has also served as Strategic Executive Head and Advisor to the Executive Mayor of Tshwane2. Aaron Maluleke: Aaron Maluleka: ANC councillor and Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Human Settlements.3. Tlangi Mogale: MMC for Roads and Transport, who also serves as the ANC’s Tshwane regional deputy chairperson.4. Chana Pilane-Majake, former member of Parliament (MP) and Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration. And recently appointed chairperson of the National Gambling Board.5. Patience Moropa, has served in regional and local structures of the ANC in Gauteng6. Phumeza Mangcu, ANCWL Regional Chairperson

Dr Nasiphi Moya (ActionSA) The Person Dr Hazel Nasiphi Moya (38), born in Mpikwana near Mthatha, holds a PhD in Political Studies from the University of the Western Cape. Her political and governance career began 15 years ago when she joined the Democratic Alliance (DA) in 2011 and rose through the ranks to the position of Chief of Staff in the Executive

Moya joined ActionSA in 2021 and became a Tshwane PR councillor in January 2023. She was elected Deputy Mayor in January 2024 and Executive Mayor that October. Now, the incumbent wants a fresh mandate. Moya says that rather than a politician, she sees herself as a nation builder.

Campaigning under “Vuka Tshwane!” (“Wake Up Tshwane”) and “Tshwane is Turning a Corner”, Moya calls stabilising the city’s finances her biggest challenge and her top priority. She says she inherited a municipality in financial distress, and service delivery suffered.

Her argument is simple: without healthy finances, Tshwane cannot meet residents’ needs or sustain development. She points to the city’s first funded budget since 2021/22 as proof tha the turnaround has begun. Now she wants to stay on as mayor to finish the job.

Moya’s plan to rebuild Tshwane rests on six priorities. First is financial stability: she says the city has moved from strain to a fully funded budget, with growing cash reserves. Second is economic revitalisation, which she says has secured billions in investment pledges. Third is infrastructure and service delivery: stabilising water and electricity, and upgrading roads and transport. Fourth is a safe and clean city, via law enforcement and cleanups. Fifth is social services: supporting vulnerable households and expanding healthcare, jobs and skills. Sixth is stronger governance and customer care, including digital access.

The City’s CFO, Gareth Mnisi, was reinstated in July 2026 after being implicated at the Madlanga Commission in allegations of tender rigging and leaking confidential information. Moya maintains that due process was followed and that the decision ultimately rested with the council.

Critics, however, point to perceptions of selective accountability, raising questions about her leadership and authority within a minority-led coalition.

Cilliers Brink (DA) The Person Cilliers Brink (39), born in Brakpan and raised in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, is an attorney and Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor in Tshwane, a position he has held since 2011. He served as a Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) from 2016 to 2019 and as the DA’s Shadow Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) from 2020 to 2023. In March 2023, he became Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane, but was removed from office through a motion of no confidence in September 2024. He now serves as DA Caucus Leader in Tshwane and Deputy Federal Chairperson.

The DA is pitching Brink’s run as a comeback. His slogan is “Get Tshwane working for all”. He promises to “finish what we started” if voters give him “five years and 50%”, meaning an outright majority. His campaign is also using the hashtags #TakeBackYourCity and #BackBrink.

Brink’s main concern is failing infrastructure, including power and water outages and declining services. He blames poor budgeting and neglected infrastructure, which leads to costly emergency measures such as water tankers and creates opportunities for corruption. His solution is to rebuild infrastructure and work with the private sector.

His five pledges: fire corrupt officials and tenderpreneurs and hire honest professionals; restore law and order with drones, CCTV and a metro police control room; upgrade electricity, water, roads and lighting through private partnerships; utilise municipal assets like the power stations, fresh produce market and Wonderboom Airport to attract investment; and work with organised communities to keep neighbourhoods clean and safe.

Brink’s turbulent 18-month mayoralty ended in a no-confidence vote, amid six mayors in eight years. ActionSA called the DA an arrogant partner that failed to consult, neglecting townships and poorer communities. The Moya rematch asks: can Brink maintain stability and build coalition consensus?

Omphile Maotwe (EFF) The Person Omphile Maotwe is an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) founding member. She rose within the party from Tshwane East sub-regional coordinator in 2013, to Gauteng coordinator, and then to national Treasurer-General. Before her political career, she spent 2008–2019 at Transnet, rising to a senior account executive. She was born in Pitsedisulejang village, Moses Kotane Local Municipality, in North West’s Bojanala Platinum District. Her father was a chief; her mother, a teacher. She holds a BSc in Computer Science (NWU) and a Master’s in Business Leadership (UNISA).

Maotwe centres her campaign on “bread and butter issues” – the daily service failures residents face. Her key line: Tshwane is “a capital city with this much promise” yet residents still fetch water in the dark, queue at clinics before dawn, and live alongside illegal electricity connections. She argues municipal failures fall hardest on women and young people.

Her vision ties governance to economic dignity – insourcing women workers, land rights, and tackling gender-based violence – arguing Tshwane’s women “built” the city and should now decide what it becomes.

She positions her platform as a choice between rebuilding municipal capacity and continuing what she calls corrupt tendering. Core commitments: a Ward Delivery Plan; insourcing of municipal services; fixing Hammanskraal’s water crisis via the Rooiwal treatment works; upgrading informal settlements with clinics, title deeds, and action on irregular expenditure; 40% of jobs and 50% of procurement set aside for youth; 50% women’s representation; and mandatory anti-corruption declarations for EFF candidates, with removal from office for violations. She has also pushed for 24-hour clinic access.

Tshwane remains a fiercely contested ANC-DA battleground, and Maotwe’s EFF must carve out space in that fight.

The DA has attacked a prospective EFF-ANC-ActionSA alignment as a “Coalition of Chaos”, a framing Maotwe and the EFF will need to counter as the campaign progresses.

Willie Spies (Freedom Front Plus) The Person Pretoria attorney Willie Spies, a 50-year Tshwane resident, returns to politics after 16 years as the FF+’s mayoral candidate. An FF+ MP from 2004–2009 and co-founder of law firm Hurter Spies, he built his public profile through civil-rights litigation for AfriForum – including the 2010 “Kill the Boer” hate-speech case against Julius Malema and a Constitutional Court challenge over Tshwane’s street renaming.

He casts his return as closing the gap between civil society and government, pitching a new social contract built on collaboration between politicians, business, civil groups and the public. Pretoria, he argues, is both the national and Afrikaner capital, making it central to the FF+.

Though Afrikaners remain its base, he positions the party’s conservative, Christian-democratic values as a vehicle for conservative thought, appealing to those tired of “wokeism” and “socialism”.

Spies’s turnaround plan focuses on three priorities: improving municipal revenue collection, visibly reinvesting it in communities, and using Metro Police to tackle the construction mafia.

The FF+’s broader five-point plan also calls for fewer political appointments and more skilled workers; a business-friendly environment to attract investment and grow tourism, agriculture and property development; stronger, technology-enabled policing; tighter oversight and infrastructure spending; and Community Upliftment Precincts to bring decision-making closer to residents.

His campaign marks a comeback after 16 years away from active politics. He’s spent years representing AfriForum in polarising cases, which brings him legal recognition but also criticism: detractors use that history to cast him as aligned with narrow conservative interests rather than Tshwane’s diverse population.

Martha Moshiga (BOSA) The Person Martha Moshiga (52), Build One South Africa (BOSA)’s Tshwane regional leader, is a music teacher, arts administrator and Founder of Mc Art Academy. She has spent over 25 years collaborating with major institutions, (UNISA, the University of Pretoria, and the Tshwane University of Technology) to empower youth, women, and people with disabilities.

Campaigning on “Stability first. Service always.”, she says Tshwane suffers from political drama and lacks stability. She pitches BOSA as a centrist, ethical party that can provide stability and hold parties accountable.

BOSA leader Mmusi Maimane tasked Moshiga with making Tshwane a capital that attracts investment, creates jobs and keeps residents safe. She pitches BOSA as a stabilising force that will restore governance and ethical leadership. Potholes come first: she pledges to repair 1,000 within her first 100 days, starting with high-traffic roads. She also promises round-the-clock response to water and electricity outages. She says her councillors will work on the ground to listen to residents’ concerns and take responsibility for fixing broken promises.

Moshiga lacks traditional political or public administration experience and has raised questions about her readiness to govern.

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Gauteng ANC lodges formal objections with the IEC challenging alleged discrepancies

ANC calls on IEC to investigate discrepancies in Gauteng election results

IEC completes vote counting in six provinces as final results near